A Twist in the Tail
by toboelily
Summary: Alan, has to seek help in breaking a curse, from a girl with a curse of her own. Modern day setting, but still has the magic of the mysterious castle. Changed the names of Belle and the Beast for selfish reasons I promise the story is better inside.
1. 1 In Which We Meet People

The strings on the fret board were tuned to perfection, and the frame was flawless. It was the perfect guitar. The battery in the side was brand-new out of the pack. So the guitar couldn't be at fault for the mistakes.

No, the guitar wasn't at fault for the mistakes. And it wasn't the guitar tabs on the page before her. It was her. She was the reason her fingers wouldn't do what she wanted them to do. Wouldn't do what she wanted them to do, because she didn't know what she wanted them to do. Instead of practicing her guitar like the whole band had all promised they would, Lily had spent her few precious hours of free time, from school, homework, and dinner, reading her book.

So now, she had ten minutes to learn to play a five minute song, without messing up. The band would come and find her messing up all her chords, and then they'd all fight again. The band had always been skeptic about letting Lily be the new guitarist Cody. She didn't even look like someone who listen to metal. She had surprised them by playing better than the bands lead guitarist. So since she could shred a fret board as easy as breathing, they let her join. But she was still the weird kid.

Lily was that weird kid nobody really liked talking to. She had figured out at an early age that nobody seemed to care about books or music like she did. And so nobody wanted to listen to her ramble on about the stories in the books she read, even if it was from their summer reading list. But as soon as it came to science projects or writing papers for English class, she was everyone's best friend.

She was trying her hardest to cram the last few tabs into her head, and was doing a great job at it, when there was a knock at her door. Lily packed her guitar in its case, grabbed her bag from under her desk, and managed not to trip down the stairs in her rush to answer the door, which she flung open to reveal Ian, the drummer.

"Why Lily, what interesting, ah…goggles?" Ian said with a taunting smirk.

Lily happened to notice that everything was…fuzzy.

Grabbing her reading glasses from her face and stuffing them in her pocket, Lily glared at the now clear, Ian.

"What? I thought they looked sexy!" Ian said without breaking eye contact

"You scare me sometimes." Lily said as she pulled the door closed behind her, locked it, and placed the key in her jacket pocket

"Hey, I'm serious!" Ian said with a slight laugh, and Lily knew that he wasn't kidding.

She quickened her pace to his car, where she joined Caroline, the bass guitarist, in the back seat before Ian could make her sit up front. Lily could smell the new car smell rising from the new leather. A shiny red convertible, most likely costing a few hundred thousand dollars. Ian opened to door and slid into his seat.

"Like the new car Lee-Lee?" Ian asked raising an eyebrow over his dark sunglasses.

"Ian please don't call me that. I only let my dad call me that."

"Yeah, well that doesn't answer my question." Ian said obviously ignoring her

"It looks really expensive…"

"Oh you, don't even know the half of it! The dealer said that not even _models_ can afford this car!"

"I probably couldn't even afford the gas that goes in it." Lily said under her breath.

"What?" asked Ian, confused.

"I said 'that's amazing'!" she lied.

"She said she probably couldn't even afford the gas!" Caroline said sniggering from her corner in the spacious back seat.

"Aw Lily that's okay. Maybe if we went out I could get you nice things like this!" Ian said flashing his perfect white smile.

"Don't we need to be getting Cody so we can go to Chris's?" Lily said quickly over Caroline's cruel laughing.

"Right!" Ian said as he sped away from Lily's house.

"You probably couldn't afford the Christmas Tree air freshener!" Caroline laughed over the roaring engine.

Lily pushed a brown curl over her ear and glared out the window of the highly expensive car.

Cody was the lead guitarist of their little band. He was a tall and thin person with jet black hair and bright green eyes hidden under red sunglasses. _What's with our band and sunglasses?_ Lily thought as Cody climbed in the front seat.

Cody whistled. "This thing is sick!"

"Yeah its okay I guess." Ian said pretending to be bored.

When everyone was in Chris's house Ian took charge of instructing people what to play. Ian was made to be the leader of the band because he apparently had experience with bands because his dad owned a record company, among other things. Ian was pretty annoying when he was in charge of something. He felt that with all his dads money and power, that he owned everything.

"Now did everyone practice like I told you to? I'm talking about you Lily." Ian said looking straight at her with a look of humor. Caroline smirked at her with a sense of disgust, and both Cody and Chris stared at her through their sunglasses with blank expressions.

"Yes I did." Lily said clearly, staring at the guitar in her hands.

"Alright then lets hear it." Caroline said crossing her arms over her chest.

For the next five minutes, Lily stumbled over the chords and notes to the song that Chris had written. So cramming it all in at the last minute didn't help enough.

"It's obvious you didn't practice. What were you doing? Reading another one of your fantasy novels?" Caroline taunted.

"No!" Lily said defiantly.

"Oh, so then it was an adventure story then?" Caroline said scrunching up her nose in disgust.

"N-…yeah."

"Oh, that's okay you're going to have to try and keep up with us though." Ian said smiling.

"You always let her off the hook! Last time I didn't practice you made me walk home!" Caroline whined.

"Today's a special day isn't it?" Ian said ignoring Caroline and her ranting.

Lily quickly looked away from Ian. _Of course he knew what day it was! How had I forgotten?_ It was Lily's nineteenth birthday. February 21. _Crap._ Lily had been dreading this day ever since the New Year came around.

"Oh yeah. Special."

"We'll have to celebrate! What do you guys think?" Ian turned to Cody and Chris. Caroline's face when Ian had out right ignored her existence was almost enough to make the day enjoyable for Lily. Almost.

Two hours later Ian, Caroline, Cody and Lily were getting packed up to leave. "You about ready to go?" Ian asked. Lily noticed the way Caroline scowled at her from across the room.

"Yeah. I promise I'll practice this week." Lily said as she got up to leave. Suddenly she tripped over her guitar case. She fell right into Ian's arms. _Oh that just HAD to happen, just like that! Lily grimaced as she looked up at Ian. _

"_Careful! I'm not yet going to always be there to catch you." Ian said smoothly._

"_I don't…what?" Lily asked confused._

"_We should hang out sometime." Ian said, obviously avoiding the question._

"_We do hang out." Lily pointed out. Seeing where he was trying to go._

"_I mean just you and me. No band." Ian said with his smirk as he brushed a thick lock of black hair from his bright blue eyes._

"_Ian how old are you?" Lily asked raising an eyebrow._

"_Twenty-three." He said proudly._

"_Hmm…okay, and how old am I?" She asked, eyebrow still raised._

"_You're…uhh…I don't know-" _

"_I'm eighteen! Well…as of today I'm nineteen. You know what that would mean if we dated don't you?" Lily asked rolling her eyes._

"…_We'd be the hottest couple in town!" Ian said just as proudly as before._

"_Not if my dad has anything to say about it." Lily said seriously, and then walked out to his car. Cody and Caroline were both already in the back seat. Leaving the front seat as her only option. Right next to Ian._

_When she climbed in the car, Cody asked from the back, "So did he ask you?"_

"_You knew?!" Lily asked._

"_Everyone in town knows that you two are an item now." Caroline snarled next to Cody._

"_But I turned him down." Lily replied, and she saw the happiness in Caroline's eyes._

_Everyone shut up about the matter when Ian got in the car, pretending as though nothing had happened_

_Cody was the first to drop off, and then Caroline, which left Lily alone with Ian, for the next ten minutes. For the first five minutes, there was silence. Then Ian suddenly pulled over to the side of the road._

"_What are you doing?" Lily asked as she placed her hand on the door handle._

"_I just want to talk." Ian said with a sense of seriousness that intimidated Lily._

"_What about?"_

"_Why wont you go out with me?" Ian asked staring her straight in the eyes._

"_I already told you, my dad would never let me, and even if he did, I'm just not interested." Lily said flatly as she gripped the leather seats._

"_First of all I'm not scared of your dad. My dad practically owns the police. And Second, what's not to like? I'm Incredibly good looking, I'm rich and I want you."_

"_Well I don't want you." Lily said as she fumbled with the door handle._

_Ian noticed this and flipped the switch to lock the car. "Hold on."_

_Ian grabbed her shoulder and leaned forward, straight into her fist, which connected straight with his jaw. There was a loud snap. For a moment Lily was afraid he was going to strike her back. He had a sort of wild look in his eyes. Then, he slammed his fists hard onto the dashboard. Seizing her chance, Lily unlocked her door and jumped out, thankful for her reflexes. _

"_Look, sweetheart I'm sorry!" Ian whined._

"_Don't call me that! I'm not you're sweetheart." Lily snapped._

"_I know you're right. I'm sorry just get back in the car."_

"_No. I must certainly will not." Lily said stubbornly._

"_What, are you just going to walk home from here? Carrying your guitar?" Ian asked sarcastically. "Just get in the car."_

"_Fine. But just to warn you. If any part of you touches me, you'll be needing to stitch it back on."_

"_I hear you loud and clear!" He said with a smile. _

_Lily extended her nails a bit before she got in, just in case._

_Ian continued apologizing all the way to the gas station, where he bought a coke. _

"_Here." He said handing her the coke. "Drink that. You'll feel better." He pulled out of the parking lot and continued to drive her home. Lily was the first to break the silence. "Look, maybe if you were closer to my age…."_

"_That's okay. I'll just wait until you're twenty. How long is that? A year?" _

_Lily didn't answer. They were pulling into her driveway now._

"_Look, we can talk later." She said as he stopped. She grabbed her guitar and jumped out._

"_Bye!" She shut the door behind her and walked up the walkway to her front door as Ian and his shiny new car roared down the street and out of sight. Only then did she realize that she left her house key in her jacket. And left her jacket in his car._

"_Aww…crap!" Lily cried as she smacked herself in the forehead. She pulled out her cell phone and called her dad._

"_Hello? Lily?" Thomas asked._

"_Uh dad, I accidentally left my key in Ian's new car, and I'm locked out." Lily said agitated._

"_It's fine, I'm already on my way home, I'll be there in about twenty minutes. Just go for a run or something." Thomas reassured._

"_Oh…uhh…okay thanks." Lily said and hung up. She stashed her guitar behind the bushes next to her house, and went for a run, in the woods behind her house. It was nice to run back there. Though Lily had to be careful not to trip over her tail…_

_-------------------------------_

_*Authors Note*_

_Muhahaha! Yes I am hinting at something. It will be bad ass…I hope at least. So I named some of the characters after people in my life. So if you're reading through the stories (and you know me in real life) and you see you name…you can do whatever. And Lily, is named after my role-play character. I just kinda like the name :3._


	2. 2 In Which Stuff Happens

**Lily was wondering through the forest not really going anywhere particular. The forest was her favorite place in the world, aside from her bedroom. The forest could be so peaceful. The sun was shining through the leaves, leaving the forest floor with splotches of gray and yellow. There were interesting smells everywhere. A rabbit here, caribou there. The chirping birds where the icing on the cake to this little paradise. After about fifteen minutes though, she decided that she should go home and wait for her dad. So Lily changed and ran the mile back to her house in the remaining five minutes.**

**As she slowed to a jog when she rounded the house, Thomas pulled his old Volvo into the driveway. It still had a rattle. Something going on somewhere.**

"**I thought I told you to go and get that thing checked." Lily said as Thomas got out of the car.**

"**Got sidetracked." Thomas replied with a warm smile.**

"**Wait a second!!" Lily said. She took a step closer to him and smelled his arm. "You've been to Grandma's house haven't you? Why?"**

"**All in due time." Thomas said with the same warm smile as before.**

"…**you know I don't like surprises." **

"**Yeah, I know. Neither did…let's go inside" Thomas said suddenly. Lily saw the apologetic look in his eyes, and knew exactly what he almost said.**

**It had been 5 years exactly since Lily's mother Julia, had died. That was a touchy subject for Lily.**

**She and Thomas made their way inside in an awkward silence, which seemed to dissolve as soon as they closed the door.**

"**So I was wondering to myself, why today seemed so important." Thomas said as he sat down next to Charlie the Siberian husky. Most animals had a problem with being around Thomas and Lily, except for the larger breeds of dogs.**

"**Well I don't really know what could have made you think today was important." Lily said, playing along to humor her father. "But it had better not take you more that 30 seconds to figure out whatever it is."**

"**Well lets see. Its not October so Halloween is out. Not November so its not Thanksgiving either." Thomas began to scratch Charlie under her chin, who in turn, thumped her tail on the floor appreciatively. "And its not December so no Christmas. And New Years was last mon-"**

"**Time's up!" Lily interrupted.**

"**Oh I think I know!" Thomas exclaimed.**

"**Oh do you now?" Lily said with a sarcastic smile.**

"**I'm just messing with you! Happy birthday." Thomas said handing her a small blue box that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.**

"**Oh boy! A new computer! Just what I wanted!" Lily said sounding excited.**

"**Yeah I…what?" Thomas stuttered while Lily began to laugh at his expression, but then stopped when she smelled the box.**

"**This was why you were at grandma's house isn't it?"**

"**I think you're going to like it."**

**Lily slowly opened the box to reveal a small gold necklace. Upon a closer inspection, it revealed to be a locket. **

"**What's this about?" She asked.**

"**Just open it already." Thomas sighed pretending to be annoyed.**

**Lily opened the small gold locket and gasped. **

"**But this is…" **

"**I know!" Thomas said excitedly.**

**Inside the locket was a picture of the three of them. Thomas, Julia and Lily. Thomas looked no different than he did today, which honestly didn't surprise Lily. She however, was only about a year old in the picture. Sitting in her mothers arms and smiling at the camera. Thomas had one arm around Julia's shoulder. It was just like one of those family photos that someone might see hanging over a fireplace, but instead, it was in the palm of Lily's hand.**

"**She said she wanted you to have it. It was your mothers." Thomas said**

"**Thank you so much!" Lily breathed as she hugged her dad tightly. Little did she know, that was the last time she would be able to hug him, for a very long time.**

**______________**

**The rest of her birthday, Lily spent time with her dad. First he took her to see a movie. The action horror all the kids were trying to see. Lily and her dad spent more time laughing at the poor attempts at realistic deaths, than to the actual movie. After which, he gave her a second birthday gift, which was a CD of her favorite band. Then, when it was getting late when all the humans were going to sleep, they changed into their wolf form and went to explore the forest at night. As creatures of the night.**

**Lily and Thomas were werewolves. They looked like regular wolves, though only if werewolves were about the size of a large horse. Lily's wolf coat was the same shade of brown as her human hair. Thomas' once sleek blonde coat, changed to a dark gray, as his human hair changed from blonde to gray. **

"**One of these days, you coat will be as white as the moon." Lily said in wolf-speak. "Thanks. You sure know how to make a old man feel good." Thomas replied along side her.**

"**No, I think it will look beautiful." Lily said and gave Thomas her best wolf smile.**

**There was a new scent on the ground under their feet, which Thomas revealed to be caribou. Lily and Thomas followed the scent quietly as possible until they found a herd standing in the snow around a half frozen lake. Thomas went first, being more experienced. He crept closer to the herd using the bushes as cover. They were down wind, so the herd had not caught their scent yet. They were just a good 30 feet from the closest one, when Thomas bolted toward it, with Lily right behind him. The herd immediately ran away from the freakish wolves. The closest one had narrowly managed to escape from Thomas' jaws as they snapped shut. So the chase was on. This herd was obviously healthy, because they managed to completely evade them. They had been chasing them inland for a few hundred miles. Lily and Thomas quickly getting tired. Lily was sure for a second that she had one. She was getting incredibly close when suddenly out of the corner of her eye, through the thick forest of green, white and brown, she saw gray bricks and black bars. She was caught so off guard by this that she lost her chance at the caribou she had been tailing.**

**Finally giving up. Thomas and Lily slowed to a stop. Breathing hard and tired they decided it was time to head home. **

"**I thought, for a second there that you had him." Thomas said between breaths. "What happened?""I thought I saw something back there. A house." Lily replied.**

**That was bad for them. They were werewolves. They had to try very hard not to become discovered by the humans. These woods were supposed to be the furthest thing from society that as close to their home. If there was a human living in these woods, Lily and Thomas would have to move to keep from being discovered.**

"**Show me where you saw it." Thomas said.**

**Lily walked back a few steps and looked at the spot where, minutes before, she was certain she had seen the gray bricks that had formed a very large gate, but now, was empty.**

"**I don't understand. I saw it right here." She said frantically.**

"**Are you sure?" Thomas said looking out into nothing.**

"**I am. You have to believe me." Lily said.**

"**I do. Don't worry. But we should probably get out of here incase someone does live here and they heard the herd…no pun intended."**

"**And if there is a house, then what?"**

"**I'll come back tomorrow as a human and see if someone is here." Thomas replied. "If there is a house here it's probably been deserted." He said hopefully.**

**The next morning was a Sunday so Thomas was off from work. And as he said he would, he put on a jacket and some thick boots, and walked in the same direction as he had done last night to try and find the house. Lily was still asleep because she had stayed up late into the night and early into the morning, listening to the new CD and looking at the picture in her locket, drawing it on a sketch board so she could put a bigger version on her wall. By the time she awoke, it was nearly 4:00 in the afternoon and her father had been gone for nearly 5 hours. When Lily found the note explaining where he was, Lily proceeded to sit on the couch to watch some TV. She had been watching a murder mystery movie, there was a knock at the door. Lily, thinking it was Thomas, opened the door. Instead of seeing her fathers face however, she looked straight into the eyes of Ian.**

**Had Lily known it had been anyone else except her father, she would not have opened the door quite as far. But she had it was all Ian needed to think he had been invited in.**

"**Hey Lily. What are you up to?"**

"**I'm just watching TV with Charlie. Ian what are you doing here?"**

"**Oh! Well I was just returning your jacket. You left in my car yesterday." Ian replied holding her jacket out to her.**

"**Thanks." Lily mumbled as she grabbed her jacket from him. "Hey, where are my keys?"**

"**Oh sorry, there right here." Ian pulled her keys out of her back pocket. "Yeah, they fell out when I got out of my car last night."**

"**Alright thanks. But you have to go. I'm not supposed to have people over when my dad's not home." Lily said as she headed to get the door. **

"**Okay. I guess I'll later. Be sure and practice today. Ian said with a wink as he headed out the door.**

**After the door was shut and she heard his car roar away loudly, Lily let out a long breath. Charlie looked up from the couch.**

"**God! He lingers!" She said to the huge black and white dog. Who flipped her ears back to say that she agreed completely.**

**It was going on 7:00 PM when Lily started to get worried about her father, who had not yet returned. It wasn't the first time he had been gone for a long time. Sometimes he would be gone for a day or two if he had the free time at work. As it reached 9:00 Lily went to bed.**

**---------------------**

**In her dreams she smelled Ian but couldn't see him. Then she was awakened by the sound of a key sliding through the front door. For the second time that day she thought Thomas was returning. But the dream that she was smelling Ian, had not gone away.**

**Lily heard the front door open, and then slam shut. Ian was in her house.**

**She got up and walked to see what he was doing. When he say her he flashed her a perfect smile.**

"**Hey I was coming to see you and saw that your dad isn't here. I was wondering if you wanted some company. Or I could just protect you from bears and wolves!" Ian joked while he flexed his arms "I'm sure your dad wouldn't want you to be home alone. Especially now. I've just heard that one of my neighbors was attacked by a bear. The thing came right into her house!"**

"**Is she okay?" **

"**Well yeah, her dad fought it off with a shut gun." Ian replied as he sat down on the couch.**

_**He's doing it again!**_** said an annoyed little voice in her mind. **_**Inviting himself in and making himself right at home. The jerk!**_

"**Well I'm sure I'll be fine by myself." Lily said while refastening her new locket around her neck.**

"**What? You think that you could fight a full grown bear by yourself?" Ian asked smirking.**

**Actually, being a werewolf with inhuman strength, Lily was more than capable of taking care of a fully grown bear. She could have done it blindfolded. But to keep up the persona of being a "real" human, she was going to have to go along with it.**

"**Yeah I guess you're right. But you can only stay for thirty minutes." Lily said as she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 9:15. **

**Ian and Lily sat watching TV for the first 10 minutes. Lily sitting as far away from Ian on the couch as she possible could, but unfortunately, as soon as she sat down, he moved closer.**

"**Hey that's a cool necklace. Where'd you get it?" Ian asked. A little too close for comfort.**

"**Oh, it was my birthday present from my dad. It used to belong to my mother. She left it to my grandmother when she died." Lily said, trying to open the locket to show him the picture.**

"**Hey that reminds me! I forgot to give you a present!" Ian said ignoring the picture, and Lily had a feeling that he hadn't really heard much of what she just said. She closed her locket and turned to see…Ian. Only inches from her face.**

"**Don't even **_**think**_** ab-" She started to say but was quite rudely interrupted by Ian. Ian's lips to be more specific. **

**Without thinking, Lily summoned some of her werewolf strength and kicked him off, with more force than necessary. Ian went flying into the wall, leaving quite a beg dent, before bouncing on the floor.**

**At first he didn't move and Lily though that she might've killed him. Then slowly, he lifted himself off the floor with obvious difficulty. Lily rushed to try and help him but he tried to jump away, but only succeeded in half rolling on his back.**

"**Ian I'm so sorry, are you alright?" **

"**Get the hell away from me!" He said angrily. Lily could also detect the fear in his voice. "What the hell was that?"**

"**I was trying to get you off of me." She replied raising her voice slightly.**

"**Okay well where did all that come from?!" Ian said as he gestured toward the hole in the wall he had made. "That's not normal."**

"**It was an adrenaline rush." Lily said quickly.**

"**Oh yeah right, like I'm supposed to-" He stopped abruptly when their eyes met. His eyes began to grow wide with shock.**

**In the reflection of his pupils, Lily could see her face, and her eyes. Her eyes, which only a few moments ago had been chocolate brown, were now bright yellow. Unnatural for a human, but for a werewolf…**

_**Authors Note-**_

**Man you must hate me now! Muahaha! Cliffhanger! Anyways my computer is being retarded. In fact, every computer or wifi device on my house has either obtained a virus or become broken. (My iPod Touch has big spider web-like cracks down the side from falling in Improv) So I is a very sad peoples raight nao ****L Everyone thank Dara for the halp of uploading! (If this is on the internets I mean…)**


	3. 3 In Which Mice are Crazy

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or beauty and the beast! By the way readers! The game.**

Ian stared at Lily with disbelief for what seemed like forever. The whole time, Lily was praying that he would just pass out so she could just say he had been dreaming. Or that he would hit his head and lose all memory of even coming to her house tonight. But luck was not something that Lily experienced very often.

"What…what the hell are you?" Ian asked in a voice that sounded close to tears. He started to crawl away, keeping his wide eyes trained on Lily as though he thought that if he turned away for even a second, she would devour him.

"Ian, just calm down. It's fine, everything is okay." Lily had no idea what to do, much less what to say. If word got out about what she was, she and Thomas would have to move again. Thomas! Where was he whenever she really needed him?

"Ian, listen to me. I'm not going to hurt you I promise."

"Yeah, right! Just what in the world are you; some kind of monster?"

"No. I'm not. I just-"

"Then what?" Ian was starting to shout. He reached into his pocket, and before Lily realized what was happening, Ian pulled out a pocket knife and pointed it at her.

"Answer me! And no lies. If I even think that you might have lied to me I'm going to cut you to pieces!"

Charlie growled from the corner of the room, but otherwise did not move.

Lily took a deep breath. "Ian…I'm not entirely human."

"No shit. Just get on with it." Ian snarled.

"I'm a werewolf. But I don't eat humans or anything like that!" Lily said quickly when she saw Ian's face change from fear to pure terror.

"Y-you…you ARE a monster!" Ian shrieked.

"No I'm really not!"

"Shut up! Just shut up! I'm going to kill you; you don't belong in this world!" Ian growled as he walked toward her with his knife.

Charlie began to bark and snarl at Ian, who simply ignored the husky.

"Do you really want to try that?" Lily asked standing up straight. "You realize I just about kicked you through a wall?"

Ian hesitated for a moment. Then he lurched forward, knife outstretched pointed directly at her heart. Lily, having faster reflexes and greater strength than a mere human, easily side stepped the knife and flipped Ian flat on his back.

"Look. I really don't want to hurt you. It's not in my nature to inflict pain on a human, despite whatever stories you've read or horror movies you've seen." Lily said holding her hands in front of her to show she was unarmed.

Ian got up unsteadily and backed up toward the door.

"I'll be back. And I won't be alone! I'll tell everyone exactly what you are!" Ian was almost screaming at her.

"Ian wait you-"

"We'll kill all of your kind!" With that, Ian disappeared from the doorway, into the snow.

Lily could hear him scrambling towards his car, breathing heavily. He jumped in, slammed the door and peeled away from her house at speeds that would have probably shamed a racecar, knocking over her mailbox in the process.

Lily could have easily stopped him if she had wanted to, but she just sat where she was, staring at the open door. She sat there for a good ten minutes after Ian had gone before his words really sank in. He was coming back, and he was going to kill her. He would expose her and her father to everyone. Her stomach turned into knots.

Charlie had been sitting beside her. She was obviously worried about her master and could sense something was wrong.

"Charlie, we have to go. Now!" Lily said with a sudden burst of energy. Without stopping to grab anything, Lily ran out the back door as she was, wearing only jeans, T-shirt and a light jacket, followed closely by Charlie. They sprinted away from the house and deep into the woods without looking back

After running for a good twenty minutes, Lily decided to change direction, as well as form, in case Ian should track her into the woods.

Lily had no idea where she was going. She only knew that she had to get as far away from the house as she could, as quickly as she could. Charlie had only a little trouble keeping up with Lily, seeing as she was obviously bigger than Charlie would ever be.

They stopped at a half frozen river after about ten miles, where Lily and Charlie both too the time to rest. Lily flopped down on the river bank and gulped in the chilly air. "What are we going to do?" She asked herself out loud in wolf-speak.

"What are you going to do about what?" Someone asked from behind some bushes. Lily was on her feet in a matter of milliseconds, teeth bared, glaring at the spot where the voice had come from.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Lily snarled. Charlie joined her in snarling at the darkness.

At first nothing happened. Then a red fox with a black tipped tail and white tipped paws moved through the leaves into view. "Sorry I couldn't help but overhear that you are at loss about something." The fox said in wolf-speak.

"You can speak wolf?" Lily asked astonished.

"Excuse me my friend, but _you_ are speaking fox." She replied slyly.

"Who are you?" Lily asked after a moment.

"The name's Dara! I'm sort of a were-…fox…yeah, werefox!" Dara said with a fox smile. "What's your name?"

"Lily. I'm sort of a werewolf."

"You're a pretty big wolf." Dara pointed out.

"Really? I hadn't noticed!" Lily replied sarcastically, looking at herself.

"Oh come on! I'm just trying to be friendly. What brings you all the way out here Lillian?"

"It's not Lillian, it's Lily. Like the flower, and I don't know why I'm here. No wait! I need to find my dad!" Lily felt her muscles tighten. Charlie barked at the sudden change in her mood.

"Maybe I could help you!" Dara said excitedly.

Lily stared at her for a moment. "Don't you have something better to do? Family or friends you need to meet somewhere? No to be rude but I barely know you."

"No. I have no family or friends that are alive. That I know of at least. I've been living out here in the wild since I was sixteen."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nah, you get used to it." Dara said brushing it off. "Where was your dad when you last saw him?"

"He was looking for this house. See, we went hunting last night and I know that I saw part of a house. And you know that's bad right?" Lily asked.

"Yeah yeah, humans and all." Dara said quickly.

"Well he went looking for that house today, and I haven't seen him since. As a matter of fact, I didn't even see him before he left." Lily said hanging her head low.

"Well there are only a few houses that could be this far from civilization. I know almost every one. Describe it to me!" Dara said eagerly.

"Well it was gray…ish. And it was made of bricks."

"Wait." Dara said thinking. "Was it covered in a lot of vegetation? With black bars?"

"Yeah that's it! You know it!"

"I'm afraid so. Lily you need to listen to me. Forget about it. You don't want to go there. If your dad went there, then there is no point in looking." Dara's sudden seriousness was chilling. Just a second ago she had been this bubbly happy little fox.

"What do you mean forget t? I can't just forget it, this is my only father we're talking about. He's all I

Ve got left in this world and if he needs my help then I need to find him." Lily said glaring at Dara.

"Lily. This house you say that you saw. Its haunted." Dara said shaking her muzzle.

"I don't believe in ghosts." Lily said with a laugh.

"I don't mean ghosts. I mean monsters. Something lives there. Something scary. I've walked by that house only once and believe me when I say, something frightening lives there."

"What. What lives there that's so frightening?" Lily said skeptically. "What does it look like?"

"I've never actually seen it but, you'll understand my fear if you could just smell it." Dara said with a shiver.

"So take me there. Let me see for myself." Lily said.

"Please don't make me!" Dara whined

"Look, just show me where it is. You don't have to go in or anything. Just show me the house." Lily pleaded.

Dara was silent for a minute. Obviously contemplating. She sighed heavily and looked up at the moon through the trees. "Fine. But I'm only showing you where it is. I'm not going in. And I highly recommend that you don't either."

"Thank you so much. I defiantly owe you now!"

"Yeah." Dara sighed sadly.

As the canine trio moved quickly and quietly, Lily began to wonder exactly what Dara had meant when she said 'werefox'. So she asked.

"Oh, well I can change my form between human and fox. I kind of figured that was obvious."

"Well I thought there were only werewolves. How does someone like you come to existence?" Lily asked, puzzled.

"It's one of those long stories that are as old as dirt. Legends. I don't really remember it all but something about one of my ancestors, got on the bad side of a witch so she cursed him and his spirit became trapped in the form of a fox. Later he falls in love with someone, stuff happens and here I am."

"That's terrible." Lily commented. "I mean except for the finding love part. But that's about the same story I have. Except that I'm a wolf."

"And you're a freaking giant." Dara said nonchalantly.

"That too." Lily replied

Though neither said anything, they were both equally astonished that there was someone else like them. Charlie on the other hand, was clueless to the whole thing.

As they kept walking, Lily noted that the trees were closer together and covered with weeds and vines. Underneath the smell of all the plants Lily could smell something else. It was not something familiar to her. Like someone had taken an assortment of animal furs and decided to drag them through the woods all at once. The more they walked the more confusing it became.

"You smell it yet?" Dara asked.

"What is it exactly?" Lily asked.

"That's the thing! I have no idea! It's so confusing!" Dara said, obviously becoming as frustrated as Lily.

"Is this what you were talking about? The 'scary thing'?" Lily asked annoyed.

"Partly. The smell plus the rumors I hear from the birds."

"So the birds say there is a monster living around here." Lily said skeptically.

"Not just around here." Dara said suddenly. "Right here."

Lily had not been paying attention to where they were going and realized that they were suddenly at the black metal gates of what looked like a castle out of a Stephen King movie. It was huge. It had fierce looking statues of demonic gargoyles on every corner. The eyes seemed to be watching, following their every move. There were high towers that seemed to stretch forever towards the heavens. The entire structure was built on what appeared to be a sort of island right in the middle of a huge frozen lake. A long wide bridge connected it to the steel bars of the tall gate that they were standing in front of.

The curious stench that had been confusing the three seemed to ooze around them. Underneath the smell, Lily could just make out the musky scent of her father. This was defiantly the right place. The only question was,

"What _is _this place?"

"Don't know. The birds say that a monster lives here, squirrels say it's a demon of sorts, and the mice…well the mice are crazy anyways." Dara said.

"How do you do that?" Lily asked without taking her eyes off the building.

"Do what?" Dara replied.

"Talk to the animals." Lily replied.

"Have you ever tried?" Lily looked at Charlie. "Can you understand me?"

Charlie did nothing to acknowledge that she had understood anything. Dara on the other hand snorted and smirked at her.

"I meant on wild animals. Domesticated animals…are like babies. They just don't fully understand how to talk like we do."

"Well back to the subject at hand, I need to get in there." Lily said, bringing everyone's attention back to the castle in the middle of the lake.

"Look, I told you I would show you where this place is. But there is no way in hell, you are going to get me in there."

"Then I guess I will see you later." Lily said firmly.

"I guess so. Later." Dara said, and began trotting back the way they had come.

Lily had half expected her to change her mind, or at least stay at the gates just in case. But Dara obviously was not as in touch with her human side. Lily was sad to see her go. Dara was quite an interesting character, but Lily had to find her father.

_Authors notes:_

_Sorry I took so long to upload. Some kid in my first block gave me swine flu. I have some mid terms coming up that I have to study for so heads up on that. Other than that I have nothing really to say. Listen to KSE!_


	4. 4 In Which Fairytales are Real

**I don't own Beauty and the Beast.**

Thomas woke up early the next day. He hated waking up early. Luckily it was Sunday, so it didn't matter. He didn't have to be in to work until Tuesday rolled around, so he could sleep in tomorrow. Being werewolves, their biological clocks craved to be nocturnal. That's the main reason they always loved Friday nights. Humans had their T.V.'s and strip malls to look forward to on Friday nights. But Lily and Thomas, had normality. Lily was still asleep when he left.

Thomas walked into the woods, heading the same way they had gone last night. They usually liked to go in a different direction every night to keep things from getting boring, and if they're spotted by a human, they'd be less likely to be spotted again.

When he had been walking for about half an hour, civilization was nowhere in sight. Thomas took this perfect opportunity to change.

Running as a wolf, was much easier, and much more fun.

By about four in the afternoon, Thomas had found the place where Lily had appearantly seen this house. He would have been there much sooner, had he not gotten side tracked. A consistant problem of his. But by then the sun had already set and was gone. In the winter, they expierenced an anomoly called Polar Night, where they can sometimes have more than 24 hours of twilight. But seeing as winter had only just begun, those days of night were a ways away.

None the less, the sunlight was gone, and Thomas still couldn't find this house. He changed back to his human form. Being in wolf form for too long made him hot.

"Maybe I am getting a bit old." He mumbled to himself. When he was Lily's age, temperature really didn't matter to him.

Somewhere behind him he heard a twig snap. Now _normally_ when he is in the woods and he hears a twig snap, it's not out of the ordinary. There are all kinds of animals that could be in the woods. But this particular snap, had come from something bigger than any of those normal animals. No, this snap, came from a human sized animal, stepping on a twig with steel-toed boots. On top of that, the area started to suddenly smell of alcohol and tobacco.

Thomas turned around to see a man half hidden by the shadows of the trees. A red ember lit brightly where the cigarette burned. He was wearing cargo pants and only a T-shirt and light jacket. This, Thomas found to be odd, considering the weather.

"You're a bit far from the nearest town, don't you think?" Said the stranger.

He took a few steps into the light of the full moon. He had black hair and pale skin. Though it was his eyes that Thomas couldn't stop staring at. They were bright red, almost glowing.

"You're not human." Thomas stated as his muscles contracted, readying himself for fight or flight.

"I'n not?" Said the man. He looked down at his clothes for a moment. "Guess I'm not!" He said with a grin.

Thomas on the otherhand did not find his antics to be humorous. "What are you?" Thomas asked.

"For starters," He said spreading his arms in a sort of bow. "I'm a vampire."

"You're a vampire." Thomas repeated, not really believing what he was hearing.

"Yes, but that's not what you need to be worried about." Said the man.

"No?" Asked Thomas.

"No." He replied. "It's what else I am."

"And what else are you?" Thomas asked impatiently. This strangers mind games were getting old.

"I'm a hunter." He said before lauging, much like the Joker.

"Why should that bother me?" Asked Thomas as he spotted a sort of clearing to his right.

"Because I hunt _you_, my dear wolf man!" The stranger said through his laughter which was now starting to subside. "You see, my friends and I found that a wealthy vampire will pay top dollar for a healthy werewolf."

"What would a vampire want with a werewolf?" Thomas asked as he started to circle the vampire, slowly edging closer to his escape.

"Oh I don't know, the usual. Guard dogs, fighting. Fighting's pretty big in vampire society. Oh we love a good brawl!" He said with a big smile.

Thomas took off from where he was standing, leaving the vampire in an explosion of snow and dirt. But it wasn't long before the vampire was running even with Thomas.

"You think you're pretty fast!" He said. "Okay, I'll give you that."

The vampire jumped, scaling the treetops, and then appeared as if from nowhere right in from of Thomas. He tackeled him head on, and both men sailed into the snow.

The vampire was struggling to hit Thomas, while Thomas was struggling just to get away from his nowfound enemy.

"Tell me old man," Said the vampire. "are all werewolves as easy to catch as you?"

"Why am I the 'old man'?" Retorted Thomas as he was finally able to kick the vampire a few feet away from him, finally allowing him to stand up. "How old are _you_?"

"Oh! You got me." Said the vampire as they resumed their chase deeper into the woods. "I'm just a little over three hundred years old. But you see, as old as I am," He cut in front of Thomas, grabbing him by his shirt and pinning him against a tree. "...I'm nowhere near as frail as you are, and seeing as I don't age, I never will be."

"Now!" Said the vampire as he reached into his pocket, producing a syringe. "Time for you to go nighty-nighty."

"What is that?" Asked Thomas.

"Oh... I don't know," He looked the syringe over. "...but the guy I get it from said it would knock a bull out for a few good hours."

Thomas wedged his lef between himself and the vampire and was able to kick him away again. This time before his attacker was able to get back up, Thomas sprinted back the way he had come, toping his maximum speed of around thirty five to forty.

"I really should have worked out more." He grunted, already getting a stitch in his side that quickly spread across his abdominals. He could hear the vampire catching up behind him quickly, but he pushed through the pain.

They came upon a river, Thomas leapt halfway across it and plunged into the ice cold darkness, only to surface on the other side of the river moments later, as a white wolf.

"_Now_, we're talking!" The vampire said excitedly before plunging into the water after his prey.

Now in his wolf form, Thomas could travel much faster, and easier. He practically flew over the landscape, weaving around trees and rocks, flying over ravines and rivers. Suddenly the land seemed to dissappear, replaced by grey stones and a black iron gate.

Without stopping, Thomas brokw past the gates, slamming them shut behind him. Thomas reverted back to his human form, and turned to face the vampire, ready to fight. It was then that Thomas noticed the smell of the place.

The vampire slowed to a stop at the gates as the smell of the place started to accumulate in the air around him. To Thomas, it didn't smell bad, but it was strong in the air. To a werewolf it smelled like the forest. But to the vampire, it smelled like darkness, and pain.

The vampire coughed as he covered his mouth and nose with his hand. He eyed the gate warrily gagging slightly, before shifting his gaze to Thomas. For a moment, they only stared at each other. Then, the vampire turned and disappeared into the darkness the way they had just come. Back to the clean air.

After a long time, Thomas finally turned aroung to see just what he had gotten himself into. What he found was a mansion made of grey bricks. What he was standing on was a bridge that led straight up to the front doors. It looked as though nobody had been near this place in ages.

"This _has_ to be the house Lily was talking about." Thomas said aloud. He glanced back to where the vamprire had disappeared.

On the fifth story, someone was watching through a window, as Thomas made his way across the bridge. The unknown person, hidden in the shadows, let out a growl, but did not move.

Thomas made it to the front door and, finding it unlocked, let himself inside. Inside there was no light, but that was no problem for Thomas.

"Hello?" He called out. His voice echoed throughout the house. Though there was no reply, Thomas could hear voices somewhere. He listened.

"...and even so, what if he finds out?" A voice said.

"Oh, you worry too much. Chill out, let's give the guy a chance." A second replied.

Thomas headed over to where the voices were coming from. He found himself in front of a door. There was a glow of light coming from beneath the door.

"We don't even know if he's-" Thomas knocked on the door, interrupting whatever they were going to say.

Thomas opened the door to reveal... nobody. The room wasn't very big. There was dust almost everywhere. A candelabra sat on a table, lighting up the clock next to it. It was just a little after seven. The fireplace, though covered in soot, was roaring, offering warmth, and enough light to see half the room.

"Is there anyone here?" Thomas asked as he stared into the fire. _It certainly didn't light itself._

"Not one word, Lumiere." said the first voice. Thomas looked around the room, but there was nobody there.

"But of course!" Shouted the second voice cheerfully. "You are welcome here!"

Thomas grabbed the candelabra from the table and turned to the dark half of the room. "Who's there?"

"I did." Said the voice, now behind him. Thomas turned again, only to find the room was still empty.

Someone tapped his shoulder, and Thomas looked at the candle in his hand. The candle had _eyes_. And was it... smiling?

"Hello." It said. Thomas could only stare.

"Well now you've gone and done it, Lumiere!" Said the clock as it jumped from the table to the floor at Thomas' feet.

"N-now I've seen everything." Thomas mumbled.

"Thank you!" Said the one called Lumiere.

"Don't mention it...No wait! What are you?" Thomas said as he quickly set Lumiere back on the table.

"Isn't it obvious?" Said the clock. "He's an idiot."

"And this is Cogsworth." Said Lumiere without missing a beat. "A tightly wound idiot."

"Oh you would-"

"Oh, would I?"

"Alright, hold up!" Thomas said. They both stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "I've lost my mind." Thomas concluded. He let out a small laugh. "They always told me I would. But I never believed them!"

"I can assure you sir, we are very real." Said Cogsworth.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Asked Lumiere.

"It's a bit of a long story." Thomas said absentmindedly, trying to figure out exactly when he must have snapped.

"Come sit by the fire!" Offered Lumiere. "You can tell us all about it."

Thomas looked at the fire. It was warm and inviting. He walked over to it, only to stop himself from stretching out on the floor in front of it. Instead, he sat in the chair.

He was slowly starting to dry off from his little swim in the river.

"So what exactly happened to you?" Asked Lumiere.

"Do you believe in fairy tales?" Asked Thomas.

"Far more than you could imagine." Mumbled Cogsworth.

"Until today, I didn't believe in vampires." Thomas said. "I mean, sure the idea of werewolves is a bit farfetched too... I guess I never really thought about it." _Maybe I should tell them..._

"What is he talking about?" Cogsworth asked Lumiere.

"You're aking me?" Lumiere replied.

"You see..." Thomas started. "I'm a were-"

The door behind him burst open, letting in a gust of wind so fierce that it blew the fire out, leaving the room in cold darkness.

Thomas could smell it again. The overpowering smell of the forest. Only now, it filled the whole room.

"Someone's here." Said a quiet, gravely voice. "Who let a stranger into my home?"

"Um... Master?" Said Lumiere. "I can explain. See, this mad mad- er... man was lost in the woods and-"

A deafening roar filled the room for a moment. Thomas was sure his ear drums would break. Then it was over, and everyone was silent. Thomas looked over the back of his chair to see just who had come into the room. As his eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, he found that there was nobody behind him. He turned around to see a huge shadow in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Said the gravely voice.

Thomas jumped from his seat and bolted to the door, but the shadow leapt ahead of him and blocked his path.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Look, I didn't mean to intrude-" Thomas started.

"And you did." Interrupted the voice.

"...yeah, that." Thomas said, trying not to sound rude. Now that his eyes had fully adjusted to the dark he could see exactly what this shadow was. "You're... not human either." Thomas said. "Who are you?"

"The master of this place." The shadow growled at him. "So, you've come to stare at the beast!"

"No." Thomas said. He was starting to become afraid. "I'll just be going now."

"No. you won't." Said the master. "You wanted a place to stay. So I'll give you one."

Thomas expierenced true fear as the shadow descended over him.

_A.N.: WOW I have not updated in FOREVER. Yeah Yeah I know, about time huh? Alot of crap has gone down at my place with my friends and family. Nobody had died or anything, but I've lost someone important. Anyways. I can keep doing chapters and all but keeping up with updating will prove difficult._


	5. 5 In Which a Deal is Made

**Hello there Mr. Disclaimer stating that I do not own Beauty and the Beast.**

**Well hello there Ms. Wannabeauthor.**

**Ouch.**

Lily walked up the long bridge to the huge thing that could only be called a castle. She pulled the hood of her jacket over her head as her teeth started chattering. It was a pretty big jacket. Actually it was her dad's. So with the excess cloth, it was like wearing a blanket.

Unfortunately for her legs, the baggy ripped jeans did not provide much warmth. She glanced down at Charlie who was prancing along, happy as can be in her thick husky coat. It probably wouldn't have bothered Lily, had Charlie not given her a sideways glance followed by a swish of her tail, basically saying "Look at me. My coat is amazing."

"If I had a knife I'd shave you." Lily snorted.

Together the continued to follor her father's scent up the path and straight to the front door.

"Here goes nothing." Lily said as she heaved the heavy door open.

There was almost no light inside so it took her eyes a moment to adjust. Charlie ran off to a corner and started snuffling around. The inside of the mansion looked pretty much like the outside. Cold grey stone, covered in dust.

"Hello?" She called out to anyone in the house that might hear her. Other than her own words echoing back, there was no other sound.

"Come on Charlie." Lily sighed as she followed her father's scent. It led her to a room around a corner. It had a fireplace that was covered in soot and dust, but not much else. There was that smell though. It filled the room, masking her father's scent. No matter how hard she tried, she had lost his scent.

She closed the door and started walking around aimlessly, looking for any sign of her father. She wondered down a few halls, still not finding any scent she could recognize.

She was about to start calling out for her father again when she heard voices.

"Someone's out there." Said a quiet voice.

"Really Captian Obvious? I had no idea." Replied a second.

"Maybe he knows the old guy." Said the first voice. Lily stopped short at this bit of information. Lily realized that whoever it was having the conversation, didn't realize that she could hear them. She crouched low and put her hands on the floor to feel for any vibrations, but there were none. She grabbed Charlie's collar just in case she decided to run off and interrupt whoever it was from saying anything else that might help her.

"Well should we lead him to him?" Said the second voice.

"No. No. We can't just keep letting strangers roam the house like we're some sort of hotel!"

"Oh come on!" The second sighed. "He's looking for his dad! We can't just... not reunite them."

"...I'll have to think about it." The first said.

"Well... you'd better make up your mind."

"Why?"

"Because, he's coming this way."

The shadowy figure, the master of the household, watched the events unfold through his magic mirror.

"Idiots!" He cried as he watched two of his servants carry on a conversation. "He can hear everything they're saying!"

"Well... you'd better make up your mind." Said Lumiere.

"Why?" Asked Cogsworth.

"Because, he's coming this way."

He watched as they started leading the kid to where he had stuck the old guy only hours before. He started to shake in fury as he set down the mirror. "Do I have to do everything myself?"

He made his way after them. _I'd better take this slowly._ He thought to himself as he leapt over the banister to the sixth floor above, and then did the same to reach the seventh and top floor. _His hearing is too incredible to underestimate._

Lily followed a light through more halls and up a few staircases, but the entire time she never saw who it was. Twice she ran ahead to see who it was, but when she got to where the light had stopped, there was nobody there. Only the candle they had been using. So she'd turned and gone back the way she'd come, only to see the light moving again. So, she decided to let them lead her to her father, and ask questions later.

She found herself at the base of a spiral staircase. _Looks ominous._ She put her hand on the floor again and felt for any vibrations. There was definantly someone up there. She followed where she had seen the light go. The stairs spiraled around for what seemed like ever. Finally she came upon another dark room. There were holes in the ceiling, where water dripped into puddles on the floor from the snow outside. The only light was from the full moon shining through the holes. The smell was thick in the air.

Lily pulled out her cellphone and used the backlight to see around the room. "Dad?"

"Lily?" His voice came from the other side of the room. Lily ran over to where his voice came from.

"Where are you? I can barely see."

"Here." His voice was coming from behins a barred door, much like a jail cell. Lily ran to the door where her father was sitting.

"What's going on?" Lily asked, shocked.

"Shh! Not so loud." Her father whispered. "He'll hear you."

"Who? What's going on?" She whispered back. She grabbed his hand which was cold. Usually they ran a temperature of a hundred or above. "You're freezing."

"Doesn't matter. Listen to me. Run. Now."

Instead Lily tried to pull the bars away, but nothing happened. "Ugh! What are these made of? I can't even make them budge." The smell was surrounding her, clouding her sense of smell.

"I've already tried. Didn't you hear me?" Her father asked. "I said run."

"Mm-hmm." Lily said, still trying to pry at the bars. One of the bars started to creak. "Look at that." She whispered.

"Forget about it and go already!" Thomas growled, starting to raise his voice.

Lily didn't reply. She shifted her focus to the one bar that was creaking. After a moment, it gave a loud groan and she saw she had put a very noticable bend in it. _That's a start._

Suddenly, someone grabbed her and roughly shoved her away from the door. "_WHAT_ ARE YOU DOING HERE?" They shouted, and Lily was forced to cover her ears.

Lily picked herself up off the cold floor. She couldn't see anything, so instinctivly she crouched in a fighting stance. "Run!" Her father yelled. She saw what looked like someone hiding in the shadows. They were holding what looked like two swords. _Not good!_ Lily jumped at him, ducking a swipe of his fist, then shoving him as far back as she could.

_Christ, he's heavy!_

Her attacker jumped up and charged at her. She quickly dodged to one side but he made another swipe at her, catching her hard in the right shoulder. Fire swept across her shoulder, and Lily could suddenly smell blood. Thinking she had put two and two together...

_Knives _and_ swords? _

She leapt back to her feet, trying to stand before the pain became unbearable. Using the strength, only of a werewolf, she jumped over his head, excecuting a front flip and landed behind his exposed back.

_I'm so glad I learned how to do that._ Lily swung her leg and kicked him in the shoulder, spining him a hundred and eighty degrees. As he turned to face her, his fist connected with her solar plexus, temporarily knocking the wind out of her and slamming her into teh wall behind her so hard it cracked the stone.

She landed face first on the floor. _Ow. He's stronger than I am._ She pushed herself up so she was sitting on her knees and pulled the hood back on her jacket so she could see better. She could hear him charging again. _Wait til the last possible second._ She closed her eyes waiting for the blow. Only... it never came.

Lily looked arounf confused. She couldn't see anything anymore. The random patches of moonlight had, for the moment, obscured her night vision.

"Who _are_ you?" Lily asked trying to see where he was hiding. _What are you._ Nobody had ever been able to outmatch her in anything, save for Thomas, but that had been a while ago.

There wasn't an answer at first. Lily was about to repeat the question when he finally answered.

"I'm the master of this mansion." Came the dark gravely voice.

"Congratulations." Lily said with false enthusiasm. He growled in reply. "L-look, I'm here for my dad. Will you let him out?"

"No."

"Why not?" Lily said as she tried to get up, only to be held back by the fire in her shoulder. She looked at her shoulder and saw that already her fathers shirt was almost half covered in her blood. Later she would use her saliva to seal up the cuts. The shirt couldn't be saved, unless she wanted to let herself continue to bleed so the whole thing would be red.

"Because, he trespassed."

_So did I... NO! Don't say that!_ "So you're just going to leave him in there?" She could finally see his shadow again. She'd have to buy time if she wanted to see his face.

"That was the plan." He replied. "I suggest you leave now." He turned and made his way over to the door.

"No stop!" She wanted to fight him again, but he obviously had the upper hand. "Let's make a deal."

"You have nothing I want." He growled. He turned and started walking back to the door.

"Money?" He kept walking.

"What about my car?" No change. _Think!_

"...me?" He stopped. _Bingo! ...Crap!_

"What did you say?" His voice sounded stunned.

"I said, ...I'll give you me." Lily said. She could feel her heart racing.

"No. Lily, listen to me. You are _not_ doing this! You hear me? NOT doing this!" Thomas yelled as he tried to stand.

"...so you're saying..." The master said. "...you would take his place?"

"W-will you let him go?"

"Yes."

Lily sighed. "Okay-"

"But," The master started.

"I said no!" Yelled Thomas.

"You have to promise to stay here forever." The master finished.

"Am I invisible or something?" Thomas growled. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"First... come into the light." She said.

Everyone was silent. Nobody seemed to move.

"Okay." He said after a moment.

Lily watched as his shadow moved toward the patch of light only four feet from where she sat. Slowly he stepped into the light. But where his feet should have been, were... paws? No this couldn't be right. Yet as more of him moved into the light, Lily realized why he had been able to easily overpower her. He was taller than anyone she had ever seen. Covered in brown fur, with huge menacing fangs. He had hands, but they too were covered in brown fur, and had pads like paws, with long curved claws which Lily had taken as knives before. On top of his head were two horns, which she had mistaken as swords.

_He's not human! He's not-_

"I can't let you do this!" Thomas said firmly, interrupting her thoughts.

Lily turned to see her father. Slowly freezing to death in a cell.

_Well... neither are we._

"Then, you have my word." Lily said, struggling to keep her voice from quavering

"Nobody ever listens to me." Thomas groaned.

_A.N.: I am quite amused on the fact that I have a vampire story _and_ a werewolf story now. Really hopt you guys have enjoyed so far. I just found this beauty and the beast forum type thing that I as pretty excited about. I will leave a link to the website on my profile later, it is called Bittersweet and Strange. I have not yet made an account. xP_


	6. 6 In Which Objects Talk

**I still do not own Beauty and the Beast and this is the last time I am saying so. It gets pretty annoying typing this before each chapter so just make this one count for all others.**

"Then I believe we have a deal." He growled as he walked past her briskly to open the cell Thomas was in. The door clanked open and Thomas stumbled out and over to his only child.

"I'm not going to let you do this. Didn't you hear me?"

"Too late." Lily said with a small forced smile.

"I won't accept thi-" Thomas was cut off as he was dragged away and out the door.

"No! Hold up!" Lily called as she chased after them. Only to have the door slam in her face. Almost literally. "Hey!" Lily screamed at the wooden door. "Open this door!"

She started banging her fists repeatedly, and when that didn't work, she decided to charge it. She backed up a few feet, and charged into the door. The door shook with the force of her impact and knocked some dust from somewhere above her. Lily somehow managed to stay on her feet as she skidded back away from the door. She coughed and rubbed her shoulder where she had hit.

_I need a rethink_. Lily thought bitterly. _I just need to see him.I have to tell him... everything!_

She heard something from the outside, and ran over to the window to see. What she saw was her father still being dragged away, all the way to the gate where... the _thing_ slammed the bars in his face. Thomas still stood there even after her new captor had made his way back toward the mansion and inside.

Lily could barely see her father from so far up. After a few minutes, he exploded into his snowy wolf form and disappeared.

_He's gone..._ She thought. _Just... gone?_

The door behind her opened again to reveal... it. She turned with an icy glare.

"You wouldn't even let us say goodbye?" She asked. "Was it really so hard? I'll never see him again. You realize that?"

"Let's go." He said,

"Go?"

"To your room." He said matter of factly.

Lily almost argued back, But with a glance around where she already was, she sighed and followed him out the door and down the stairs.

Nobody said anything almost the entire way. Not to say they weren't thinking anything. Though what was going on through both of their minds were definantly related, they were definantly not thinking the same thing.

For instance. He was thinking: _A girl! there's actually a _girl_ in my home! After all this time I might have a way out!_

While she was thinking: _I can handle this. I can handle this. I can handle this._ _OH MY GOD! I can't handle this!_

The worst part for Lily was that the wolf in her still wanted to attack him, even though she was clearly outmatched. It was like every few seconds a little kid was asking her the same question.

Now?

Now?

Now?

...Now?

She followed him through a series of hallways and down a few stairs, each as dark and cold as the last. Lily shivered and pulled her fathers jacket tighter around her, not that she was cold still. Far from it actually. There was no wind chill indoors. She just couldn't get over the eerie feeling that the very walls were watching her every move.

"This..." He said, drawing her attention back to him. "is your new home. So you can go wherever you want, except for the west hallway on the fifth floor."

"What's up th-"

He spun around suddenly. "STAY away from it!" He snapped.

She jumped back. "Y-you got it chief."

There was a short pause before he continued down the hall they were in, and another before she followed. The only sound was the faint footsteps of both their bare feet. After another set of hallways in silence he stopped in front of a door and opened it. Charlie immediately trotted along inside, tail wagging, happy as could be like everything was just a-okay in doggy land.

"If you should need anything, the maids can help you." He said as she walked into the room.

"So, we're not the only ones here?" Lily mumbled. To her surprise, he'd apparently heard her clearly.

"No." He paused for a moment and Lily heard someone whisper "Invite her to dinner." She recognized it as one of the voices from before.

_Oh yeah. Because he led me to my dad._ She'd almost forgotten about that.

"Dinner is in ten minutes." He said.

"I'm not hungry." Lily said quietly.

"I wasn't asking." He growled and slammed the door behind her.

_I can't handle this!_ She curled into a ball on the bed and stared at the wall, trying not to cry. Charlie took that opportunity to bounce up and try to lick her face.

"Not now, dog." Lily sighed and pushed Charlie away.

Not more than five minutes later there was a knock on the door. Placing her bare feet on the floor to 'feel' who it was, left her puzzled. There was no sign of life on the other side of the door.

"Who is it?" She called.

"Mrs. Potts." The empty space replied.

Curiosity drove her to the door and she opened it to reveal...

"Well hello there!" Said the teapot.

Lily could only stand there with a dumb look on her face.

"I thought you might like a cup of tea." The teapot said.

_Talking?_

And then Lily came to a conclusion. "I've finally lost my mind."

"I can assure you that you're quite sane." Came a voice from behind her and she turned to see that it was the wardrobe that was addressing her.

"You sure about that?" Lily asked, starting to panic a little. "Because I think I'm carrying on a conversation with a wardrobe and a teapot. Because, I mean, that's impossible."

"And yet here we are." The wardrobe laughed. "We're real though, you know, not like vampires and werewolves and the like!" She said with another laugh.

"Uhh... yeah! Like a... werewolf!" Lily said nervously.

A little bit later Alan paced in front of the fireplace. He did this often, but more often when he was nervous and antsy. He used to do it when he was younger, the only difference being that he didn't walk on all fours back then. The first time he discovered that he could walk on all fours, he'd been doing it ever since. It was just easier in that form, and he could move faster and with more balance.

"Nervous?" Lumiere asked.

"Am I that obvious?" Alan replied sarcasically.

"Just a bit." Mrs. Potts answered.

"Master, have you considered that she might be th-"

"Break the spell, yeah I have." Alan said cutting him off.

"Great! We're all on the same page then!" Lumiere said. "Play our cards right and we'll be human again before we know it!"

"I'm afraid it wont be that easy. These things take time you know." Mrs. Potts said.

Alan sighed at this. "It's not going to work!"

"That's not what I said." She sighed.

"No, I mean it's just not going to work!" Alan huffed. "She's so normal. Beautiful. And I'm... do I even need to say it?"

"You have to help her to see past all of this."

_**Meanwhile back in Lily's new room**_

Charlie was curled up on the corner of the bed, sound asleep.

"So if you don't mind my asking, is _everyone_ in the house like this?" Lily asked the wardrobe who she'd learned was named Madame. Well, actually it was Madame de la Grande Bouche, but Lily really didn't want to have to say that everytime she was talking to her. It was a bit of a mouthful.

"I'm afraid so. But on to the matter at hand!" She said enthusiastically.

"Which is...?" Lily asked raising one eyebrow.

"What shall we dress you in for dinner! Let's see what I got in my drawers."

"Thanks, but I'm not going to dinner."

"But you have to."

There was another knock at the door. This time it was a clock.

"Hello. My name is-"

"Captian Obvious!" Lily said with a laugh as she recognized his voice from before.

"What? No. I'm Cogsworth. Head of the household. What are you talking about?" He asked.

"From before. When I was walking around downstairs. You were with someone else, and you guys showed me where my dad... was."

"Y-You heard all that?" He asked, astonished.

Lily inwardly cursed herself for being so stupid. "I uh... I have a pretty good ear." They seemed to have bought it.

"I'm here to tell you that dinner is ready." Cogsworth said.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going."

The look on his face almost made her laugh again. It was clear that he didn't like her reply. But he nodded and left. Lily got up and closed the door behind him.

"The master wont be happy to hear that." Madame sighed.

Lily didn't say anything. She sat back on the bed. _This place must be enchanted or something. It's not entirely logical but it's the only explanation I can come up with._

"Why me?" She asked Madame, a few minutes later.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why lock my dad up in a cell and make him freeze, and give me this room?"

"I can't really answer that." Madame said.

"And you're _sure_ I'm not crazy?" Lily added.

Madame laughed. "I promise, we're all real."

Lily heard a loud roar from downstairs. She placed her feet back on the floor to see if she could tell what was going on. From what she could tell, something large was charging its way toward her. Imagine you're driving over a train track and your car dies. Now imagine a train is racing toward you and you can get your seatbelt undone and the door wont open and you can't get out and AAHHHHHH! That's what Lily felt like.

Something banged on the door three times with such force that the door shook. "I thought I told you to come to dinner."

"I don't want to." I said through the door. That's when he burst through the door and rushed over to me, standing at his full height. He was really tall. Stood at least twice my height.

"I didn't ask if you wanted to." He hissed.

"As I recall you didn't ask at all." She retorted.

"Exactly." He smiled as he reached to grab her arm.

Seeing this Lily jumped out of the way. "Get downstairs!" He yelled.

"Uh eh... M-master?" Cogsworth interrupted from the doorway, drawing the attention to him. Behind him were Lumiere and Mrs. Potts. "Please, _attempt_ to be a gentleman."

"Your friend gives good advice." Lily added.

Alan ignored that comment and took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Will you come down to dinner... please?"

"No thanks." Lily said, trying to sound polite.

"You can't just stay in here for the rest of your life!" He said.

_Watch me!_ Lily thought, but decided it was too... bitchy. "Can so!"

Alan was about to say something else, but stopped. He turned, grinding his heel into the carped and in a single leap, was out the door. He slammed it behind him. "Then you can _starve_ in there too!" He called through the door.

"If she won't eat with me, don't give her any food at all." He said to the others.

Lily heard him bound down the hall and slam another door.

..._**Now**_?

"Well. I think that went well." Lily said to Madame with a smile. A real smile.

"I take back what I said. Maybe you _are_ insane." Madame said. She wasn't smiling.

Lily sighed. _Maybe that was a bad idea._ She walked over to the window and stared out. That's when she remembered the full moon. _I have to get out of here. I can't let them see me when it happens!_

"The master... he's not really all that bad. Once you get to know him." Madame said suddenly.

"What? Oh. No. I don't want to "get to know him". I was kinda hoping to avoid him." _I have to get out of here!_

Lily got up and walked over to the door.

"Where are out going?" Madame asked.

"Just out. I... I need to clear my mind. Be alone for a while." It was mostly true.

"But you can't! The master, he-"

"Let me deal with him." Lily said. "Really, I'll be fine." She smiled.

_A.N.: Ahhh! What will she do? I do not know. ...Actually _I_ know, but you do not. Ha._


	7. 7 In Which Secrets are Revealed

I do not own Beauty and the Beast

Lily decided to follow her scent to find her way back to the front door. Though she had to go back up to the tower first. When she finally made it, she found that the beast's scent had covered her own. She would have to find her way back to the front door the human way. Or just ask someone.

Lily sighed as she walked back down the stairs. _Maybe I can follow _his_ scent._

It wasn't the best idea she had, but it was all she really had to go on.

Lily followed his trail back down the stairs... and then a few more. It led her all the way back to her room. Frustrated, and getting angrier by the moment, she decided that she didn't care anymore if she changed inside. Let them deal with it.

She started wandering around the dark hallways waiting for the moon to reach the point when she would have to change. Both she and her father could change into their wolf forms whenever they pleased, but on the nights of the full moon, they changed whether or not they wanted. It was as if the moon was calling to the wolf. The change became inevitable.

Lily came to a corner that when she turned, was nearly knocked back by the smell. It was _his_ smell. Not to say that he smelled bad (not anymore once she got used to it at least) but it was so overpowering.

_This might be his room_. She thought as she noticed that the hallway came to a end at a set of double doors. She remembered hearing once from a movie she was watching that you could tell alot about a person by their room. Then she remembered Van Wilder saying the same about someone underpants. At this ransdom memory she laughed quietly to herself. Though the question remained: What kind of person is he? If he even _is_ a person at all.

There was an ominous feeling that passed over Lily the closer she got to the doors. The walls were torn apart and had holes in them as though someone got mad and kicked them. The windows were covered in dust. It was as though nobody had been up here in years.

_That's good_. Lily thought. _Maybe I can hide out here until morning. Keep my secret a little while longer._ She knew that if she was to stay in this place for the rest of her life, someone, if not everyone that lived here, was bound to find out eventually.

Lily placed her hands on the cold metal doorknob and gave it a twist. It was unlocked, so she swung the door open. It wasn't heavy like the front door, but she could tell from the weight that it was solid all the way through. That wasn't something one came by very often.

_These doors must be really old. Come to think of it, this whole place probably belongs in a history book somewhere._ Lily thought as she stepped inside and gently closed the door behind her.

The room was littered with bits of broken furniture and shredded cloth. It was like the aftermath of a hurricane. On top of the mess, his smell was everywhere on everything.

_This is his room!_ Lily realized. _I shouldn't be in here. What will he do if he catches me?_

Lily turned to leave, but something caught her eye. The end.

Not really. Just wanted to say that.

She turned back to look at what had captured her short attention span.

Sitting on a small table was an object unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was a glass pengagon. No. Scratch that. It was three dimensional. Ten sides. Decahedron. The light refracting from it gave it an almost pink glow. Though, upon closer inspection, Lily found that the pink glow actually _was_ coming from the object. There was a metal frame holding the glass plates that made up each of the ten sides.

All previous thoughts went out the window. All focus went straight to figuring out exactly what this strange new, enchanting object, was.

There were no cords that could be seen, so electricity was not a factor. Yet there was definitely light coming from the prism. Lily approached the table, and slowly reached for the decahedron. Time seemed to stop while she held it in her hand. It was unnerving. As soon as she touched it, she was afraid that even the slightest of movements would cause the prism to shatter.

A hot rush of air rolled over her shoulders. It smelled like..."Someone needs to brush their teeth." She whispered and she turned slowly around to face her new 'friend'.

Alan curled his lips to reveal his sharply pointed teeth in a snarl. "Put. It. Down." He ordered through gritted teeth, in a way that clearly showed his barely contained anger.

Lily stared blankly at him while his words rang in her ears. _Put it down?_ She glanced at the object in her hand. While she was staring at it, one of the ten sides dimmed. She hadn't noticed it before, but now, turning it over in her hand, she noticed that some of the faces were dark, while only four out of ten had the soft pink light emitting from them.

A large brown paw wrapped around her arm and guided it back to the table. "Set it down." He said. She obeyed, setting it carefully back where she found it. The prism wasn't refracting light at all. It really was coming from the object itself.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "Don't make me repeat the question." He added.

"Originally... I was looking for the front door. And before you get the wrong idea, no, I was not trying to run." She said when his eyes narrowed.

"Oh sure! I'm just supposed to believe, what? You wanted some fresh air?" He scoffed. Or growled, maybe.

"Yes." She replied without missing a beat.

He paused only to sneer. Or what looked like it might have been a sneer. "You think you're so clever don't you?" He hissed while his grip on her arm slowly tightened.

"If you say so." Lily drawled, wondering what would happen to his hand...paw, if she flexed her arm.

Obviously, he wasn't too pleased with her attitude. "What are you doing here?" He snapped.

"I was looking for somewhere...to..." Lily stopped herself. She couldn't tell anyone. Not even him.

He didn't seem to care anyway. "Do you realize what you could have done?" Lily noticed him glance at the prism.

"I was-"

"I don't need your excuses!" He roared.

Lily took this moment to yank her arm out of his grasp. While his face contorted into another level of fury, Lily decided it was time to go.

"I-I can see I've overstayed m-"

"GET OUT!"

She didn't need to be told twice. She bolted for the door. Had Alan not decided to follow her and continue to roar, he might have noticed that she was moving faster than humanly possible. He wasn't concerned about that however, as he was only a few paces behind.

He chased her back into the long hallway, and to the stairs. She took the stairs four at a time until she was halfway down, gave up, and cleared the rest. Rolling to keep the jolt from hurting her joints, she was back on her feet and off running again.

"You want me out?" Lily managed to ask. She was approaching another set of stairs. "Fine!"

At the top of the stairs, Lily The Human jumped. At the bottom, Lily The Wolf landed, and disappeared around a corner and out of sight.

Alan, came to an abrupt halt when he came to the top of the stairs. What he had just witnessed, was almost out of this world. Almost.

Lily, now sprinting full speed, continued through the maze that was the mansion. She'd figured that even though she had no idea where she was going, her best bet was to continue going down. She was rewarded for her efforts when she found herself looking down another set of stairs, to the foyer, to the large set of wooden double doors. Her final obstacle? Lumiere and Cogsworth, staring up at her from the bottom of the stairs.

She easily leapt from the landing, over the pair, and landed a few feet from the doors. She was able to pull the door open with her teeth but decided she wouldn't be able to close it, and disappeared into the snow before either object could say or do anything.

Cogsworth was the first to break the silence. "That, was _not_ the Master..."

"Oh, really?" Lumiere replied sarcastically.

They had been on their way to Alan's room to see what was the cause of his roaring. Though now, they correctly assumed they had found it, until it disappeared through the front door.

"I realize that in our current state, any animal would be considered 'big' to us. But that wolf was-"

"Alright!" Cogsworth interrupted. "Let's go see what the Master has to say."

Lumiere started up the stairs, but stopped when he realized that Cogsworth hadn't moved. "What?"

"Someone should close the door." He said.

"You're right." Lumiere replied before continuing up the stairs.

oOo

Alan didn't move from the top of the stairs, where minutes ago, he witnessed the girl... Lily... transform into a wolf. He didn't move when he heard the front door open, a few stories below him, and he didn't move when Mrs. Potts appeared to question him about the events he had just taken part in. Followed shortly by Lumiere and Cogsworth.

"What happened?" Mrs. Potts asked.

"She was in my room." Alan growled, starting to regain his composure. "She was in my room, and messing with The Star!"

Everyone shared the same expression of realisation.

"Is it alright?"

"Did it break?"

"Did she take it?"

"The Star is fine!" Alan sighed.

"So what's the problem?" Lumiere asked.

Alan groaned. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to admit to them what he had seen. He didn't want to admit it to himself either.

"_Is_ there a problem?" Cogsworth asked.

"Oh, you bet!" Alan laughed nervously. They gave him expecting looks. Waiting for him to elaborate. He started pacing. How was he going to explain this? "Umm... no wait...you didn't happen to see... well..."

"See...?"

"Spit it out!"

"A... very large wolf?" Alan finished.

Both Lumiere and Cogsworth's expressions confirmed that they had, in fact, seen a very large wolf.

Cogsworth glanced back down the stairs. "Yes, it-"

"Left, throught the front door." Lumiere interrupted. "Why?"

Alan took a deep breath. "Well, you see... she was... she was in my room, right? So i was chasing her, and when she reached the top of the stairs," He pointed to where she had jumped. He stopped for a second, thinking. "Hmm... well it certainly explains a lot..."

"Care to let the rest of us in on whatever is going on?" Cogsworth drawled.

"The wolf... and the girl are," He was waving his paw like he was fishing for the right words. "They're the same person." At the looks he recieved, he quickly added, "I know this sounds crazy, but I watched her leave that top stair as a girl, and land at the floor as a wolf."

"She left?" Mrs. Potts asked.

"And you didn't try to stop her?" Cogsworth agreed.

Alan gave them an incredulous look. Were they serious? It was as if they hadn't heard him. "Are you listening to me? She's a wolf-human... thing! She's not human!"

"I thought you might see that as something we all have in common." Mrs. Potts said giving him a disapproving look. Lumiere and Cogsworth mirrored her expression.

"What?" Alan growled. He had expected them to see it the way he did, but appearantly they had other thoughts on their mind. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go after her." Lumiere said.

"But she-"

"Or we could just wait for another girl to some along to break the curse." Cogsworth offered. "Might be another few years before even another _person_ stumbles across this place."

"And we don't have time for you to be picky about this." Mrs. Potts agreed.

"Go after her?" Alan scoffed. Were they serious? The looks on their faces confirmed this. "And what? Am I just supposed to leave here and find her like that?"

"Or use the mirror. But I don't think it would be too hard to follow footprints in the snow the size of a basketball." Cogsworth said.

Alan wanted to argue, but he knew they were right. He only had a little over a year left until his form became permenant. "Alright." He said quietly. "Alright..." He decended the stairs and then bounded to the front door.

_A.N.: Yipee! And stuff. Sorry I have not updated in quite a while. I should tell you not to expect me to change my ways x)_


	8. 8 In Which We Run into Enemies

I do not own Beauty and the Beast

oOo

Running. Sprinting, more like. The cold numbness in her paws, hurt. But she could take it. The burn of the cold air in her lungs and throat. Yeah, she could handle that too. What she couldn't handle, was the thought of that guy... thing... ripping her limb from limb. Nope. Not even going to hang around to see if he could.

She wished she had payed more attention to her surroundings when Dara was showing her the way to the house. Now she was running blindly through the woods. She didn't care. Since she had started running, back in the mansion, she hadn't been thinking very clearly. Getting out of the house and as far away from _him_ as possible, had been the only thoughts on her mind. Now...

_RUN! RUN! RUN! Where are you going-who cares? RUN! Oh god what's that? It's a tree, RUN! _

So, now... her thoughts, much like her legs, were running blindly at top speed. The air was cold and dry. It hurt to breathe, and every now and then she would inhale some of the churning snow as it was whipped around, and would have a small coughing fit. Other than that, run. Keep running. Are you still running? Good.

A short while later found her curled up against a tree trying to catch her breath. The marathon she felt that she had just completed, left her mind in a state of bliss despite her current surroundings. The runners high had come early this time.

_Well..._ She thought to herself. _I am SOOOO out of shape!_

She hadn't run like that in too many years. _If I ever get home, I'm going to have to start excersizing again._ At the thought of home, Lily sighed and rested her head on her paws. The bubble of happiness that she had build up while running, shattered as the events of tonight caught up with her again. People say that you can't run from your problems. That's a lie. Outrunning your problems is an easy task. But they always catch up.

_Where am I? I should have gotten directions from the fox. Or at least paid more attention to her surroundings. Dad wouldn't have asked for directions. Not paying attention in school used to get her into trouble all the time. If there weren't so many clouds I could use the stars to- and I broke a promise! ...oh well._

Lily yawned, her breath condensing in the air in front of her. The wind was blowing in all directions it seemed. She couldn't get a fix on anything she smelled. One second the wind was hitting her right in the face, the next it had turned a full one eighty.

She heard something rustling through dead leaves to her far right. Deeper into the woods. Or maybe back the way she'd come?

It sounded heavy, but Lily wasn't too worried for her own safety. She'd yet to encounter a being, man or animal, that she couldn't overpower. _Until a few hours ago, at least._ She thought bitterly. Then froze. What if it _was_ him? Slowly rising to her feet, Lily pointed her nose in the direction she had heard the noise. Trying to catch scent of something. Or someone. Given what she had been through the past few hours, she wouldn't be surprised if Bigfoot himself came waltzing out of the woods.

The wind wouldn't shift to the one direction she wanted it to. So she had no idea what was lurking behind the trees. She listened, but couldn't hear anything besides the howling of the wind. No vibrations in the ground either. Whatever was hiding, she was pretty sure it had a good view of her.

More rustling now. Something snapped. This time, behind her. Before she could spin around, she heard footsteps to her left. Someone coughed. Humans. Lily backed up to the tree she had been resting on. Hackles raised, tail held high. Waiting. Waiting. Nothing. Silence. Then...

"Two in one night?" Came a deep voice. A match flared and for a moment, Lily could see a face. Black ruffled hair against pale skin. The fire made his eyes look red while he lit his cigarette. He tossed the match into the snow where it fizzled out with a small short hiss. "It must be my lucky day!"

The stranger slowly emerged slowly from the darkness. All at once he was there. Like he had just appeared from thin air. He was taller than Lily was in her human form. He had a mess of black hair and looked as if he hadn't shaved in a few days. He was wearing boots cargo pants and a shirt.

_No sane man would dress like that in this kind of weather._ Lily thought as she looked at his clothes. She looked up, and for the first time since he had "apeared", looked into his eyes.

_They're still...?_

Two burning embers were below his eyebrows to match the one in his mouth. Lily felt her lips curl back to reveal her teeth, but no growl came out.

The stranger smiled. Out of nowhere, came four more men. They "appeared" in the same fashion as the first. All with the burning red eyes. One, on her left, was bald, had a handlebar moustache, and had a large hunting knife strapped to his thigh. There were two on her right. Twins. Both had the same short blonde hair and were similarly dressed. The only difference was, one was carrying a machete, the other, what looked like shuriken. The last one was behind her. She didn't dare turn around to look at him.

She was surrounded.

oOo

"Am I the only one who wants to know what's going on?" One of the chairs asked. A few murmurs of agreement proved otherwise.

"Let's go see where they are." Chip agreed.

"Is the mirror still in his room?"

"Well he didn't take it with him!"

"Why are we still standing here?"

At that, all the objects made for the stairs.

Cogsworth rushed after them "Wait, hold-up!" But either nobody heard him, or nobody cared.

The small crowd gathered below the table where the magical mirror was resting.

"Alright, who has hands?"

"Nobody has _hands_."

"You know what I mean. Don't be a smart aleck."

Cogsworth, still fuming from having been ignored, strolled up to the table. "Allow me to-"

"I got it!" Lumiere cheered as he raced ahead of Cogsworth, using the clocks face as a step. "All right, let's see... who should I see first? ...Show me the Master!" He commanded.

The small hand mirror, cast the room in a faint green glow, before the glass cleared and showed an image of their master bounding through the snow after a trail of very large paw prints.

"Well at least we know he's going the right way." Mrs. Potts said. "But how far behind?"

"Show me the girl!" Lumiere told the mirror.

"Lily." Mrs. Potts corrected, even though the image was already shifting. The new image took a moment for everyone to process.

"Hey! She really _is_ a wolf!" Someone exclaimed.

"She's in trouble." Someone else said. Everyone peered closer at the glass surface to discover this to be true. She was surrounded by five figures dressed inapproprriately for the cold weather. Every now and then one of the figures would lunge or make swipes at her with their weapons. She appeared to be holding up alright against them, but she had a few slashes on her sides and limbs.

Everyone watched intently when they watched her make a few lunges of her own, throwing all her weight into the jumps, and then gaped as they watched her rip off the arm of one of her attackers. She used her paw to hold down the limb and ripped it into two parts before tossing the forearm back at its owner. Ears flattened against her skull, and blood smeared across her muzzle, she bared her fangs and growled a warning.

The man seemed unfazed by the giant wolf that had just torn away his arm at the shoulder, and ripped it into two pieces. No, it didn't seem to bother him at all. He smiled and took a drag from his cigarette.

"You're pretty fast." He said, leaning down to gather the pieces of his arm. "I'll give you that." First he grabbed his upper arm and held it to his shoulder as if making sure it was in fact, his arm. Everyone, Lily and the househole objects, watched as the skin melted itself together. He grabbed his forearm and did the same. If it wasn't for his missing sleeve, nobody would have ever guessed that his arm had ever left. He smiled at the wolf.

Lily took this moment to jump, clean over the strange supernatural creature, and hit the gound sprinting. All five men were not far behind.

"Look how fast they move." Cogsworth gasped.

"Have we missed some medical breakthrough in the past ten years?" A glass whined. "Because if that's the case, I'm going to be really-"

"Look! It's the Master!" Everyone watched as Alan raced after them. He had only been a minute behind when they first saw him.

oOo

After following the tracks that were soon followed by others, Alan finally found the girl... wolf. He watched as she leapt over one of the men surrounding her and sped away, followed by all five. Alan was only just behind them.

Everyone was following the brown wolf. If she turned, everyone turned. Which she was doing alot. She seemed to be very successful with staying one leap ahead of every attack. Or so it seemed, until two of the attackers, the twins, doubled up on her. She barely managed to escape. A high pitched whine escaped her throat when the one with the machete managed to slash it deep into her right shoulder. The force of the blow knocked her off her paws, and she flipped into the snow.

As the other twin came in to deliver a blow, he was knocked forcefully to the side. Alan recovered quickly from his tackle, and faced the rest of the strange creatures. That's when he saw their eyes.

"What is it?" The bald one asked.

"I don't know." Said the one in the cargo pants. "I've never seen anything like it." He took a step closer. "But I've smelled it before."

Lily rolled over and struggled to stand up. Finally, she settled with sitting.

"What are you?" Alan asked.

"It talks!" Said the twin with the shuriken. "Well I'll be damned. Hey, what are you?"

"I asked you first." Alan growled.

"Of course, where are our manners." Said the one in the cargo pants. He flicked his cigarette away. "My name is Anthony. These are my comrades. We are vampires."

"Mike." Said the bald one.

"David..." Smiled the twin with the shuriken.

"And Kyle." Added the other twin.

"...Zeke." Said the last one. He appeared to be wearing a tunic, made of maroon fabric. His clothes looked as though he had made them himself. Blindfolded.

"And, your name is?" Anthony asked.

"You can call me "Beast." Everyone else does." Alan said. "Why are you chasing my... friend?" He didn't want to say "prisoner".

"Business." Anthony replied quickly. "You say 'everyone else'. Are there more of you?"

"If you mean more of my..._species_," Alan snarled the word. "I'm the only one."

Zeke laughed once. A single syllable. "I suppose that would put him on the rare species list."

"And would fetch a high price." Mike added.

"It would appear that it _is_ my lucky day." Anthony smiled. Lily snarled. "David, Kyle. I believe I can trust you to handle the wolf?"

"Of course." They said in unison.

Lily was on her feet, hackles raised, ready to fight the twins. Her shoulder had started to go numb, and blood continued to trickle out of the gash.

"Zeke and Mike, with me."

Alan jumped to Lily's side. "If we stick together, we might have a chance." He whispered. Lily nodded. Whether or not she liked it, they needed each others help. They stood back to back, facing their attackers.

Her shoulder had not stopped bleeding but the flow had begun to slow as it clotted. She wouldn't lick it in front of any one of these men. Nope. Nuh-uh. Kyle seemed to notice that her shoulder wasn't in the best of shape though, having been the one responsible. "What's the matter, Wolf?" He gestured to her shoulder "Thought you guys were known for your healing abilities."

As the rest of the vampires started to laugh, Lily took the moment to attack. She jumped forward, paws pushing his arms out of the way to expose his throat. Striking for the kill, as her teeth started to close around his neck, She was shoved from the right, and fell out of reach. She rolled over, shoulder screaming in protest. Ignored it. Saw David with his arm back. A split second reaction saved her from two bo shuriken. One sank into the snow where she had been standing, the other, in a tree where her head would have been.

While he reached for another weapon, Lily went again for Kyle, who was starting to get back up. She pounced on his back and sank her fangs into his neck as David, a blade in each hand, made an 'X' shaped cut, into her side below his brother's mark.

She didn't mind this very much. It hurt, yes. But she figured it didn't hurt nearly as much as Kyle did before she pulled his head away from his neck. She wondered what final look on his face was, as she evaded his brother. She spat out the head, just to see.

_A.N.: Yeeeeeaaaaah... So. Not much up with me. Writing is starting to flow better for me now. My creativity might find its spark again. (I hope.)_


	9. 9 In Which Good Teams are Made

**Disclaimer: Refer to all previous chapters.**

oOo

Alan had only been in a fight twice that he could remember. And he didn't really count them as fights, because in all reality, he got his ass kicked both times. The first time he wound up with the other boys shoe in his mouth. The second left him upside down in a garbage can.

His dad had been pissed when he found out, deciding that he was going to have to teach Alan to stand up for himself. His dad had been a tall, well built guy, and had assumed that his son would take after his height and strength. Instead, Alan had been short, and scrawny. Until he had been cursed.

As the three vampires advanced on him, Alan realized that the last fight he'd been in, he'd lost, and now he's found himself in another, and was sure he still couldn't fight. At least, not _three_ at once.

The vampires pressed closer and closer in, and he realized that they were trying to seperate him from Lily, who seemed to be getting along alright without his help. Maybe these guys were all talk...

The one known as Anthony seemed to be their leader. He was watching Alan with his burning, calculating eyes. A foe not to be underestimated.

Alan faked a left, jumped back, spinning a full one eighty and swiped at the one called Mike, taking his arm off at the elbow. He didn't seem too bothered by it, only momentarily distracted. Taking his chance, Alan removed his head from his shoulders.

Zeke reacted to this more than Tony did. He crouched, muscles tensed, ready to spring. Alan braced himself for an attack, but he was unprepared for it to come from Anthony, who full body tackled him, seperating him a few yards from Lily.

When Alan got back up, Anthony had disappeared. Alan listened for an attack but Anthony was only replaced by Zeke.

oOo

David was beyond pissed off at the decapitation of his brother. His eyes said one thing. Kill.

Lily knew she had crossed the line, and would probably regret it soon, but definitely _live_ through it! She crouched preparing for an attack. Watching him carefully.

She was knocked to her side by something else, rolling several times. The wind had been knocked out of her lungs, and she almost lost control of her form, nearly phasing back to her human self. She heard David fast approaching but could not do anything.

Her low growl turned to a high pitched whine as two more slices from their knives seperated the skin on her shoulders and rib cage. She barely managed to dodge a second swipe, turn, and change to evasive tactics. She could hear two sets of foot falls around her, and smell that Anthony was the newcomer. He came at her left while David attacked from the right. She dogded both, easily leaping over their heads. The unexpected move gave here the few fractions of a second she needed to turn and leap right back at Anthony.

Anthony's reflexes were faster than his comrade, he jumped out of the way and Lily plowed into David, sinking her teeth into his neck, and pulling his head off as well.

_Seems to keep them down well enough!_ Lily thought.

Anthony returned at full speed and tackled her in the ribs. Lost the ability to breathe, as well as her form. She phased back into a human.

Her fur turned into what clothes had survived, blood staining everything, but no longer bleeding. Her father's jacket was unrecognizable in shreds.

Anthony grinned at the sight before him. "Look whose decided to play!" He taunted. "Was I a bit much for you?"

"Look whose in for a surprise." Lily growled as she launched herself at him.

Hand to hand combat had always been something the wolf genes made her excel at. Anthony was only as challanging as her dad had been. Ducking kicks and dodging or deflecting punches same easily, but she had yet to land a blow on him either. Jumping back to gather what she could to phase slightly. Muscles became slightly prominant, and her nails became longer and sharper.

_Ian and this guy have seen me like this in less than twelve hours. What has the universe dumped on me?_

Now twice as strong, she attacked head on trying to overwhelm him, but to her surprise, her matched her again.

_He's toying with me now. _She realized. _I need to phase all the way!_

She turned and ran closer to this "beast" guy, who had one of his new friends by the neck. Keeping away from Anthony, trying to give herself time to phase. Anthony never gave her the chance, knocking her down before she knew what happened.

"You're not too threatening when you can't phase." Anthony chuckled. His voice was friendly. Deceiving. "Are you?"

As human as she could ever be, Lily managed to prop herself up against a tree facing Anthony.

_"Never turn your back on an enemy."_ Thomas had once said while training her. The words echoing now confused her.

_I guess the who 'life flashing before my eyes' was bull._ She thought sarcastically.

"I do believe you will fetch a fine price." Anthony smiled.

Lily sneered. "I suppose that's a compliment?"

Anthony didn't reply. He reached into his pocket and produced a syringe, and prepared to attack her with a mass of brown fur knocked him to the ground.

oOo

Alan ripped David's head from his shoulders. "Seems like the most efficient way of putting a stop to you." He said to the severed head.

"You're not too threatening when you can't phase." Anthony's voice floated over the howling wind. "Are you?"

Alan glanced over to the leader. He had the girl back to normal, and she looked as if she'd stepped into a wood chipper. Being out of Anthon'y sight, Alan tried to step as lightly as possible as he snuck up on him.

"I do believe you'll fetch a fine price." He said. As he pulled a syringe out of his pocket, Alan abandoned all previous plans and simply charged. Anthony had time only to glance up with a surprised expression as he knocked him to the ground, throwing all his weight into him.

They landed a few feet away, Alan pinning Anthony to the frozen ground.

"Catchphrase!" Alan smirked throwing a clawed hand at Anthony's head. Anthony managed to duck his head out of the way, roll over so that he was now on top, and began assaulting Alan with punch after punch. Occasionally clawing.

Alan managed to catch one of the fists in his mouth, and bit it clean off, leaving a red stump. There was blood dripping, but not flowing.

"A mere inconvenience." Anthony said, holding up his bloody left wrist. Suddenly his left arm fell away at the shoulder. Anthony yelped and spun around to face Lily, who was standing behind him.

"How's that for inconvenience?" She smirked. She made to attack him again, but Anthony leapt away from the girl and the beast.

"This isn't over!" He promised, as he backed away, clutching the hole where his arm had been.

"Where are you going?" Lily taunted, suddenly very confident. "Why not finish this now?"

Anthony glared, and pointed a bloodstained finger at her. "This isn't over." He repeated through his teeth, and turned, disappearing into the trees.

Neither Alan nor Lily moved for a while. Both expecting him to return any second. But when he didn't reappear, Lily let out a nervous laugh.

oOo

"I seriously hope that's the last we see of him." Lily breathed, and began applying her spit to her various cuts and scrapes. She was feeling faint and cold from the loss of blood, but would be fine after a hot meal and a good nights sleep.

"We make a pretty good team." She laughed after she had taken care of the more serious injuries. When Alan didn't reply, she turned to look at him, and nearly did a double take.

"Hey," She took a step toward him. "You don't look so well."

Alan was leaning heavily against the very tree she had been backed up against only moments before. He was breathing heavily, and all though he didn't have nearly as many cuts as she did, he was bleeding out fast.

"I...don't feel..." He collapsed into the snow.

"Hey!" Lily was immediately at his side. "Don't pass out on me." She said shaking his shoulder. His eyes opened halfway for a second, before closing again.

For a moment, Lily only stared at him. Never before had someone else's life been in her hands. She hated the feeling. Despite everything she had gone through in the last few hours, and despite _whose_ life was in her hands, she couldn't bring herself to just leave him there.

Sighing heavily, Lily did her best to roll him over and prop him back up against the tree. It was like trying to roll a two hundred pound bean bag. Grabbing one of his massive arms, she pulled him over her shoulders and stumbled into a standing position. He was still heavy- even for her- but after a few steps she was able to fall into a steady pace. Sinking up to her knees in the snow with every step.

"You're lucky... I'm not anyone... else... on this planet."

_A.N.: OH MY GOD! This story is still going?_

_I know, I know. Gee. Zus. Sorry, everyone. I made you wait and all._


	10. 10 In Which We Start Over

**Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters.**

**Despite the lack of reviews I have found myself thinking on this story a little more. So here, another chapter! Happy 10th of July!**

**(Though seriously. Please leave me a review)**

**What to know something funny about this story? Funny to me anyways. The only reason some people's names remained the same from the Disney version, was because I didn't feel like coming up with new names for everybody. I'm physically and mentally lazy... xD**

oOo

When Lily finally carried her companion through the front door of his mansion, she was almost entirely out of breath. The cold had completely numbed her feet making them unsteady.

Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth led her to a room where a fire was roaring- to her relief- and a couch where she all but dropped him, then collapsed on the floor leaning on said couch, breathing heavily.

"That was... fun!" She breathed when Mrs. Potts returned with the first aid.

"...Hmmmph. Whawuzz s'fun?" Came The Beast's reply.

"Did you forget already?" Lily asked, as she and Mrs. Potts started rifling through the medical kit.

He tensed, and slowly lifted his head to look at her. She saw realization flicker across his eyes, before they gave her a cold hard stare.

Lily sighed "What have I done _now?_"

"What were you doing in my room?" He asked in a low voice.

"Originally," She replied. "I was looking for the front door." She repeated her words from before. "But then I got lost, and ran out of time. I was just looking for an empty room to spend the night."

When he didn't say anything, she added "You know, as a wolf?"

His ears pointed straight up. "You have some explaining to do." He said in a dark, velvety voice.

_Damn._ Lily thought. _I wish I could do that!_ "I'm not the only one."

He roared loudly in her face. Everyone else cowered and moved back a few paces. To their surprise, Lily stood and returned his roar, just as loud.

"Big deal,_ I _can be obnoxious too!" She yelled. She then preceeded to bounce around, hand springing and flipping off of every piece of furniture she could reach, as if to prove her point. She finished, landing back to where she had been sitting. "Just ask anyone I ever went to school with. They'll tell you exactly how annoying I was." She was glaring at him now.

Adam stared at her as if she'd grown an extra pair of eyes.

"Speak with words. You've done it before." She sighed.

Alan shared a look with Cogsworth and Lumiere, then after a few seconds replied. "I can't explain everything, and I'm sure you might have some things you can't tell me-"

"No, you pretty much know of anything I wanted to keep to myself." She said with a grin. "But I can respect your privacy."

"Can you?" His tone clearly implying his disbelief.

"_Yes_. You can tell me all about it while I fix you up." She said, holding up a bottle of antiseptic wash.

He tensed visibly, then composed himself. "Alright."

Lily nodded, grabbed a towel, and moved closer to begin cleaning his various cuts.

"...I don't really... know where to start." He sighed.

"I find that the begining is usually a good place." When he glared she froze. "N-no really. When were you born, your adolescence, have you always appeared this way?"

"I was born twenty two years ago. As for my appearance, I was cursed."

"By who?"

"A witch. A fairy, or enchantress or something. We're not really sure what she was." He glanced at the enchanted objects around the room.

"Why'd she do it?"

Alan was mildly annoyed by her straightforwardness, but decided it might be worth it to see what her story was. "She said I was selfish, and unkind to others-"

"Can't imagine why she'd think that-"

"So she said she was going to make my outward appearance reflect who I really was."

"Where were your parents for all this?" Lily asked.

"My mother died giving birth to me, so I never knew her, and my father froze to death when I was twelve. Got caught in a blizzard." He said as he gazed at the frost covered world beyond the window. His father hadn't been that far from the house, but couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. He stumbled aimlessly and became lost.

Lily could see that his father's death had bothered him. She was reminded of the loss of her mother, and felt that she understood. Then she reminded herself that _he_ was also why she'd lost her father now too, and silently went back to treating and dressing his wounds. He was surprisingly calm considering how tense he was.

"Are you stuck like that?" She asked quietly.

"In more ways than you can imagine."

"I mean is there a way to reverse it?"

"I can't explain that."

"You don't know, or you don't want to tell?"

He turned to give her a cold stare. "I can't explain that." He repeated in a low voice.

Lily bit her lip, and averted her eyes, occupying herself with bandaging his arm. When she didn't say anything for a while he smirked. "Did you finally run out of questions?"

"Yes." She said quietly. Lily didn't want to share his moment of fun with him. She didn't want to really know him anymore. _He's ruined what's left of my life._

"What about you?" He asked.

"What about me?" _Be specific._

"Are you... a werewolf?" He asked bluntly.

"I am." She said. Not looking at him, even though she could feel his eyes on her. "My father too."

"Why didn't he change into a wolf?"

"We try not to make it obvious to the world that we are different. People don't take the werewolf thing too easily."

"Oh." He said. "So the full moon, makes you change."

"The call of the moon is hard to fight."

"How hard?"

"No one's ever beaten it and lived."

"Ow!" He yelped jerking his arm away, where she'd been cleaning blood from his wrist.

"I know! I know. But you have to hold still." She grabbed his arm and placed it back on his knee.

"Is that why you were trying to get outside?" He asked, watching her as she inspected the cut, and smeared ointment on it before wrapping it in gauze.

"Or find a window. I need the light of the moon to fully transform. The wolf is at its peak when the full moon shines."

"Does a silver bullet kill you?"

"A regular bullet would kill me if I didn't heal myself. Silver is... well..." She wondered if she was telling him too much.

"What?"

"Never mind." Lily shook her head. He let it go.

Alan didn't know what he really wanted to know. Remembering her questions, he asked "What about your parents?" Immediately regretting it. Mentally kicking himself.

She didn't stop attending his wounds, but her features hardneded slightly. She didn't answer at first either. Obviously choosing her words carefully.

"You met my father already, I believe." Not smiling, but not glaring either. "My mother is dead too." This time she did look up, a small smile. "Fun times, huh?"

Alan didn't really have a reply for that. And after thinking on it for a few minutes, he correctly assumed that it meant _that_ conversation was over. It was quiet for a while, as she finished nursing. Mrs. Potts and Lumiere quietly urging him to return the favour, but when he brought it up, she showed him the wonderful healing powers of werewolf's spit.

"Really, the spit is just for serious injuries, to stop blood-flow and all. Withing a few days, these," she gestured to her various scabs, "Will be scars. A few weeks after that, anything that was left I would consider permanent."

"That's convenient." Lumiere noted.

"You have no idea." Lily said. Another moment of silence. Lily glanced at the clock above the fireplace. Nearly four in the morning. "Well... goodnight." She turned to leave, but stopped when she reached the door, looking over her shoulder at him.

"I wanted... I wanted to say, uh, thanks. You know, for... for saving my live?" True apologies were always hard to say. The fake apologies, were easily thrown around. Especially when she was in school.

"I should thank you, too." He mumbled, knowing that she'd heard him anyway. "I think that makes us even. Do you... uh... never mind."

"What?" She asked, turning back to face him.

"Do you want to... just start over?"

"Start over?"

"Like, hi, may name..." Deep breath. "My name is Alan."

"Well, Alan... Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth." Nodded to the four, and turned to leave again.

"Wait!" Alan called again.

_But I'm so close!_ Lily groaned inwardly.

"Will I see you at breakfast, then?"

"Depends. Are you asking me, or telling me?"

One glance at a glaring teapot, and he had the right answer. "A-Asking. Definitely asking."

"Then I'm happy to oblige." Turn. Flounce. Exit. _FINALLY! I get to sleeeeeeeeeep._

"Though, it'll be more of an early lunch." He called to her. "Considering the time and all."

"Goodnight." Came her reply. No anger or malice. More, humorous and annoyed.

When Lily finally returned to her room, she was greeted by a loud and angry dog. Charlie, made as much noise as possible. A mix of barking and howling, to show her displeasure of having been left behind for so long.

"I'm so sorry! Baby-Girl! I know..." Lily tried to calm her down. She picked up the large dog and tossed her on the bed so she could pet her and scratch her tummy the way she liked it.

"Orooroorooruh..rruh." Charlie gave her a look that seemed to say: _How dare you. Leaving me by myself._

Lily was soon passed out on top of the covers. She woke once, when the cold became enough to wake her, crawled under the covers, and was out again until morning.

_A.N.: So, yeah. Chapter 10! Whooo! Goodnight. xD_


	11. 11 In Which The Wheels of Destiny Turn

**Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters.**

oOo

The next morning when Lily woke, she was surprisingly sore and stiff. "So _that's_ what an asskicking is." She groaned, inspecting her wounds. Her skin had healed over during the night. All that was left was the sore tissue and bruising.

The wardrobe was still sleeping, snoring every now and then.

She had to sit up slowly. Any sudden movement made the sore skin burn. Her muscles underneath had settled with lactic acid, and were still healing together where she'd been sliced.

There was a knock at her door.

"Come in." Lily called.

The clock walked in. _What was his name?_ She thought. _Started with a 'C'... two syllables..._

"Good morning, madame!" He greeted "Feeling well?"

"I've had better days." She winced, carefully stretching her arm above her head.

"I regret to inform you that the Master will not be joining you for breakfast."

"Is he in a lot of pain too?" Lily asked with a knowing smile.

"I see you understand the situation."

"I can forgive him." I nodded. "I'd be concerned if he w_as_ feeling good."

"Cogsworth!" Someone called from the hall.

_That was it!_ She thought._ That's his name._

"Lumiere?" Cogsworth questioned as the candelabra appeared in the doorway.

"Bonjour, Madame!" He greeted in his think accent. "The Master has asked if you will join him for lunch."

"Sounds good." Lily nodded. "Should give me time to wake up. Work some stiffness out of my joints."

"Excellent!" Cogsworth said enthusiastically. "Lunch will be-"

"Lunch will be served in an hour." Lumiere interrupted. "Until then, you are free to explore the castle, though I would advise against-"

"The west wing." Cogsworth finished.

Lily nodded, embarrassed. "Now that I know where it is." She said as the two left the room.

Madame had woken up, and heard the conversation. Jumping at the chance, she asked: "What shall we dress you in for lunch?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lily asked, looking at her bloody, ripped clothes. "...Oh."

"Come on." Madame insisted.

When Lily removed what was left of the torn cloth, she heard Madame try to stifle a gasp, and glanced into the full-length mirror on the other side of the room.

"That bad, huh..." Lily sighed, inspecting the slashes of angry pink and red scar tissue, running down her arms, legs and side.

"I'll say!" Madame huffed. "Can we get you anything? Medecine?"

"I'll be fine." Lily assured, grabbing the dress that Madame had laid out. She'd hardly worn dresses before, but as it seemed to be her only option, she couldn't complain. "I just need to give my cells time to reform. Umm... how do I...?" Lily held the dress one way, then another, as if a different prespective would help her to understand.

"Zipper's on the back, sweetheart."

"Ah."

Lily needed some help getting the dress on, and arms through the sleeves. The tight skin limiting her mobility, tearing in some places, but nothing a little spit couldn't fix. She would have just walked out right then, but she caught the sight of herself in the mirror again.

"Wow." Lily said, both eyebrows rose in awe. The dress was blue, with elbow-length sleeves. It was meant for someone a bit shorter than she was, as the hem cut off mid-calf. _Now I remember why I haven't worn dresses in a while._ Lily thought as her face heated up. She's never liked to dress up.

"It's like it was meant for you." Madame said. "How does it fit?"

"A little tight in the shoulders." Lily admitted. "But only if I were doing somersaults. Otherwise it's fine. Whose dress is this?"

"It belonged to the Master's mother..."

"...Maybe I should take it off?"

"Nonsense!" Madame huffed. "The thing's hardly seen the light of day. Now it has someone to wear it. You look ravishing!"

Lily blushed deeper, but nodded. "I'm going to go poke around." She said as she opened the door.

"But you're not wearing any shoes!" Madame exclaimed.

"I don't need them." Lily insisted. "Besides, I'm not going outside."

"Alright." Madame said reluctantly. "But don't blame me if you step on something sharp and slice your foot open!"

"I won't!" Lily replied with a laugh as she exited her new room. _Everyone here is so nice._ Lily thought. _Well... almost everyone._ She stopped in front of a window and stared out at the glittering snow-covered world. _That's not really fair, I guess. He did apologize for his behaviour. And he does want to start over._ She sighed and continued down the long hallway she was in. _Fine. He's got one more chance. ...I wonder what's for lunch?_

oOo

"So how long uh... how long have you been able... you know, to..." Alan stumbled through his question, finally breaking the silence since they both sat down.

"Change into a wolf?" Lily finished his question. Alan nodded. "Since I was twelve."

"Were you in public school?" Alan asked.

She nodded.

"Even after you could change?"

She nodded again. "We call it phasing." Feeling a bunch of questions headed her way, she decided to interject. "How about you? Have you always been like that?"

Alan went visibly rigid. Lily glanced away. "You don't have to answer that... if you don't want to." She said. _Awkward!_

He shook his head. "I was- I mean, _we_ were cursed." He mostly gestured to the entire room around him. "The whole castle, when I was eleven."

_So it _is _a castle._ Lily thought.

"Did you always know you would, umm... possess your abilities?" He asked.

"No... well, yes- I mean..." She thought for a second. "I always knew it was possible, but I didn't know I actually possessed the gene until I changed the first time... I was one of the youngest werewolves-" She stoppped. Not sure if she was sharing too much information. She felt like she could be open with him. It had to stop. "You were human once?" Lily asked, immediately striking another chord.

"Yes." He said in a low voice. In the same low even tone, he asked, "Does it hurt when you change."

Lily glanced back up and met his eyes again. "Yeah. Everytime." When Alan didn't say anything, she felt compelled to continue. "My bones begin to grow suddenly, my skin has to catch up, and it itches from all the fur that's trying to grow..." _Feels like a hundred years of puberty all at once._

She stoppped when she saw him nodding along as if he knew what she was about to say. They both fell silent again. Lunch was served and they both picked at their food in silence for a while. Then...

Alan glanced at Lily until she met his gaze. "So, what do you do for fun?" Alan asked.

oOo

**Later that night.**

Ian stormed out of the police office, fuming. Even under the threat of being fired, they still laughed at him. If his dad had been with him, they would have listened. He could send them on any wild goose chase.

His story was just too unbelievable. They'd even brushed off his bruise as an accident. He needed to find someone with an open mind. _Lily is open-minded._ He realized, then scoffed at himself. _The little bitch!_ He started thinking over the people he knew. What connections he had. Anyone that could help him.

"The boys." He said aloud when he remembered his bandmates. He hopped into his car and set his GPS to Ian's house, even though he already knew the fastest way there. Plugging in his iPod, he set the music to match his angry emotions. Speeding past two stopsigns and ignoring the shouting of an angry parent whose child he narrowly missed.

Cody opened the door to his appartment to an angry looking Ian, who immediately walked in without invitation. Cody was used to this, so he only shut the door behind Ian.

"What's-"

"I've got something to tell you!" Ian said. "Very important, and you have to let me finish, okay?"

"Oka-"

"Lily is a werewolf." Ian said. "I was over at her house the other night, I... I said something she didn't like, and she changed- I mean CHANGED- right in front of me. She grew teeth," He pointed to his own teeth. "and claws, and, and fur and everything!" He waited for Cody to say something.

Cody seemed to not have heard a word he said. He was staring into his fridge, trying to decide between a beer or a bottle of water.

"Well?" Ian pressed. His eyes were wide.

"Well what?" Cody asked, grabbing the beer. He looked around for the bottle opener.

"Did you hear a word I just said?" Ian's voice was starting to crack.

"Yeah. But I was waiting for the punchline."

Ian, having long since lost his patience, pushed Cody against the door of his refridgerator. "I'm serious!" He growled.

"Okay, okay!" Cody cried. "She's a werewolf, I heard you!" When Ian finally let him go, he continued. "Do you have any proof? Have you gone to the police?"

"Yes to both."

"Let's see then." Cody said.

"What?"

"Your proof?"

Ian thought for a moment. He hadn't really thought about what proof he had. He had answered the question without even thinking. Until...

"She did this to me." He lifted his shirt, showing his abs that were the result of an expensive diet and exercise plan. Upon which was a bruise, the size of a basketball and deep purple.

Cody whistled. "Our Lily did this?" His skepticism waned a bit.

"I'm telling you, she's a monster!"

oOo

Thomas' first instinct was to go home and regroup. So that's what he did. He ran back to his house at full speed. He would form a plan, bring some weapsons, and save his little girl.

Of course his plans instantly changed when he reached his front door and found it wide open. The television and lights were on, and he saw a large dent in the wall. He discovered Ian's scent upon further investigation. Thomas had only met Ian a few young man had acted as a perfect gentleman whenever Thomas appeared.

Thomas was unsure what exactly had transpired there, but he knew he didn't want to be found there, should someone come looking. And although he didn't have a good reason to, he wisely decided to avoid Ian, at all costs.

_A.N.: I have not uploaded since... FOREVER. Sorry. :(_


	12. Chapter 12 In Which Progress is Made

Disclaimer: refer to previous chapters. oOo "And this is the recording and music room." Alan said, bringing Lily into a room covered in dust. "..Which hasn't been occupied in a long looooong time." He added. Charlie was following them at their heels, tail swishing happily with every step. The dog had grown used to and actually fond of Alan. Under the layers of dust, she could see cases for different instruments. "Do you play any?" She asked, gesturing to the row of cases. "I tried a few, but never really found one that I could- that I liked." He said as Charlie sniffed something and sneezed loudly sending dust bunnies flying around whatever she'd found. "D-do you?" "Do I wh- oh! Yeah I play guitar." "Tried that too." "What happened?" "I couldn't do it." He stated. "I was slow to catch on. Then I moved on to another instrument." "It's not an easy instrument to learn at first. And you have to get comfortable playing it." She said running a hand through her hair. "I remember, I didn't even want to play it when I was alone because I felt stupid." Alan laughed at this. "That's usually how I felt when I started to learn anything." He agreed. "Did you ever get past it?" He thought about this for a moment. "Actually... I don't think I ever did." It was quiet again as they nervously looked at anything but each other and tried to think of something to talk about. Then Alan got an idea. "I have a guitar. Two actually, they're both electric though." He searched down the row of cases and picked up a rectangular case. "That's exactly the kind I play." She said as he dook a deep breath and blew almost all the dust from the black case, and opened it up. It was sleek and shiny black. All the tuning pegs were on one side of the triangular shaped head. In silvery writing, it said Ibanez. "Very nice." She said, impressed. "Yeah?" "Yeah. I used to have an Ibanez, but it was lost when we moved." She tried to strum a chord, but they both cringed when the result was a garbled mess of notes. Charlie barked, clearly irritated by the racket. "How long has it been since anyone played this?" "Too long I guess." Alan replied, then got an idea. "Hold on, I think I have a tuner around here somewhere." She waited while he rummaged around where an amplifyer and a tangled mess of cords were. "Found it!" He called after a few minutes, causing Charlie to perk up at his voice, tail wagging. She's going to go nuts when I tell him her magic word. Lily thought, smiling at the dog. Alan managed to grab a cable from the pile, plugged it into the tuning device and turned it on. "It still works." He said under his breath. "Is it not supposed to?" Lily asked as he weaved his way through instrument cases back to her. He halted in his tracks for a split second before continuing. "I forgot how good your hearing is. No I just figured the batteries would have to be replaced." He retrieved the second guitar -a Fender American Standard- and when they were both tuned, she started to play. oOo After accidentally snapping one of the strings with his claws, Lily recommended that he shorten them. The nails on her left hand were shorter than on her right for that reason. She could tell he was reluctant to do this. He might not have even wanted to play. But he never objected to it. Only doing what she told him to. So she showed him how to play a few simple songs. Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and others along those lines. Neither had noticed how long they were playing. It was only when Cogsworth arrived to announce that dinner was almost ready, did they notice that the sun had already set. The head of the house looked surprised to see Alan behind a guitar, if only for a moment as they set their instruments down and made their way to the dining room. "I gotta admit," Alan sighed. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Lily only nodded, not sure how to reply. "…you know, cause the last time I tried to learn, my teacher just gave me some scales to practice." "Then just left you alone until the next lesson to figure it out?" "Exactly." Alan said. Lily could hear a touch of relief in his voice. "Is that how you learned then?" "Sort of… no not exactly." She scratched the back of her head. "My teacher just taught me whatever song I wanted to learn. Then, when I had been playing for a while, he started to teach me chords and scales." "Do you think that was the right way to learn then?" Alan asked. They had reached the dining room and he was holding the door open for her. She walked in and he followed behind. "No. I don't think there's a right and wrong way to learn to play music. Just the way that works best for you. That way seemed to work best for me." Neither said anything as they say across from each other at the long table. Alan was deep in thought about what Lily had said, Lily was trying to think of a way to fill the silence. "It's snowing." Alan noted after a while. She looked up first to him- noting that he had nearly cleaned his plate- then followed his gaze to the window, where the white fluff was floating down like huge tufts of white fur. The sun was still the horizon, and would be for a while. Lily had begun staying inside as soon as the sun set. Intent on never seeing another vampire as long as she lived. She soon became aware that Alan was trying to ask her a question. The only problem was… he couldn't even get past the first few words without stopping to reword the question. After three tries, he took a moment to breathe before continuing. "Do you want to go play in the snow?" He asked, sounding much more confident than he looked. "Yes." Lily answered immediately, a grin spreading across her face. Five minutes, after they had both finished eating, and were about to go right out the door until a livid Mrs. Potts stopped them dead in their tracks. "You can't go out there, it's twenty below freezing!" She cried. "You'll catch your death." "But that's okay," Lily insisted. "I run a higher internal temperature than humans do." "Then you're at least not going out there without bundling up first!" Lily was about to object again but Mrs. Potts wasn't going to have any of it. "No buts!" Lily could only nod politely. "Yes, ma'am." She said and then turned, flying up the stairs and disappearing around the corner toward her room. Another seven minutes passed before she was finally out in the snow, in a coat, gloves and scarf. Through after running around in the snow with Alan for a while she started to feel too hot, so she removed the coat. Next they started to build snowmen, and after a few of those Lily decided to test her skills at snow sculpting and managed to make a small fox. She was wondering about where the fox from the woods might be, when she turned and saw that Alan was just finishing up his own sculpture, a wolf- he had used some twigs to make teeth and claws- though in the ice, both sculptures could have been the same animal. They were comparing techniques they had used when Alan noted that his was the larger sculpture. That turned it into a competition. She made a bear as tall as she was, using his idea of twig claws- he made a moose that was taller, through he used branches to make the antlers? Which gave her an idea. She began to work on something that was roughly his size, while he was working on something bigger. As he continued, it began to take the shape of a large horse. He glanced at her to see how she was coming along, and was surprised to find that she was making him out of the snow! Not wanting to be outdone, he turned to continue on his work. Unfortunately the stomach of the horse was too big and the snow wasn't really wet enough to pack and stick together, so it kept falling apart at the middle. He realized he should have tried to make it sitting, like Lily's sculpture of him was. He turned back around to see the glittering snow sculpture of himself, but no Lily. He looked around a bit, and didn't see her, but when he turned to face his horse, he saw her far behind it, walking around some bushes looking for something. Then she reached into the brush and removed a stick, and after a bit more searching, found another one of almost equal length. She then ran back over to the snow carving, and stuck them both on either side of his head, making his antlers. She turned back to see his sculpture. He followed her gaze and turned in time to see the horse crumble under its own weight again. "Oh forget this!" He growled and tackled the pile of snow, sending flurries everywhere. When he looked up, he saw the disappointed looks of Cogsworth, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, in a window above Lily's shoulder. Lily on the other hand looked surprised, and, after a moment of thought, grinned widely and followed his example, tackling her work, sending chunks of snow everywhere. When she finally stood up she removed her gloves, shoes and scarf, tossing them on top of the discarded coat. Now wearing only pants and a long sleeve shirt she, walked barefoot in the snow a few steps, before dropping to all fours. "Let's play tag- Not it!" She yelled before phasing into her wolf form and bowed in a playful manner. "You'd better run!" Alan replied before taking off after her. A.N.: I apologize again for the long wait. I get to the writing when I can. But I have a favor to ask of my readers. I also apologize if this text comes through all wonky and whatnot. Still in need of a better writing program. I need some recommendations of songs that remind you of Beauty and the Beast. For some future chapters. Your help is appreciated. 


End file.
